Project Blue Book • 1952–1969
12,618 sightings investigated.
701 left unidentified.
Project Blue Book ran from 1952 to 1969. The National Archives puts the count plainly:
“From 1947 to 1969, a total of 12,618 sightings were reported to Project BLUE BOOK. Of these 701 remain ‘Unidentified.’”
“Unidentified” means the Air Force investigated and could not identify it. That is all it means — and it is enough. It is not a finding of alien origin, and it is not a finding that something extraordinary happened. It is a file that stayed open.
One honest warning before the list: the label is contested case by case. Blue Book’s own record cards sometimes carry an explanation even for the famous cases — and sometimes the file itself disagrees with the card. So this table gives you what Blue Book’s own record actually says about each case, in its own words, with a link to the original file in the National Archives. Read the record, not the legend.
Official source: National Archives — Project BLUE BOOK, Unidentified Flying Objects
Nine cases, in date order. Every row links to the original file. Where the record card says “Unknown,” the table says so. Where it says something else, the table says that instead.
| Date | Case | What the record says | Original file |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 15, 1950 | Great Falls, Montana The Mariana film |
Nick Mariana filmed two bright objects for about 16 seconds on 16mm color film. Blue Book attributed it to F-94 jet reflections — disputed. The Condon Report (Case 47) left it unexplained. | NARA file ↗ NAID 28938188 |
| Aug–Sep 1951 | Lubbock, Texas The Lubbock Lights |
Professors watched formations of lights; freshman Carl Hart Jr. photographed a V-formation. Blue Book’s index files it as “Other (BIRDS)”. The Air Force photo lab wrote it could neither confirm nor deny the negatives’ authenticity. | NARA file ↗ NAID 28939743 |
| Jul 2, 1952 | Tremonton, Utah The Newhouse film |
Navy warrant officer Delbert Newhouse filmed a formation of bright objects. The Air Force photo lab rated the film unidentified in February 1953; a June 1956 memo gave the firm verdict seagulls. | war.gov/ufo ↗ PURSUE Rel. 06, DOW-UAP-D102 |
| Jul 19–20 & 26–27, 1952 | Washington, D.C. Radar over the capital |
Radar returns over Washington on two weekends, seen on three airports’ scopes. Officially attributed to temperature inversion — announced by Gen. Samford at a press conference, July 29, 1952. | NARA image ↗ NAID 595553 |
| Aug 13–14, 1956 | Lakenheath–Bentwaters, England Radar-visual, RAF/USAF |
Radar and visual sightings at two RAF bases over two nights. The record card concludes “Anam. [sic] Propagation” — but adds it was “impossible to make a definite determination of the sources of these sightings.” Condon Case 2. | NARA file ↗ NAID 28966873 |
| Jul 17, 1957 | RB-47, Gulf Coast 700 miles, six-man crew |
An RB-47 tracked an object for 700+ miles with airborne radar, ground radar, and visual sightings. Blue Book blamed an airliner — American Airlines Flight 655. The Condon Report classified it unknown: “The phenomenon remains unidentified.” | NARA file ↗ NAID 28970538 |
| Nov 2–3, 1957 | Levelland, Texas Stalled cars, glowing egg |
Witnesses across Levelland reported a glowing egg-shaped object and cars stalling as it passed. The record card concludes “Ball lightning”. The field report was “forwarded as unresolved.” | NARA file ↗ NAID 28972840 |
| Apr 24, 1964 | Socorro, New Mexico The landing that left traces |
Police officer Lonnie Zamora found an egg-shaped object on legs in an arroyo, with burned brush and four rectangular depressions in the soil. The record card marks it “Unknown”: “Case carried as UNIDENTIFIED pending additional data.” | NARA file ↗ NAID 302532129 |
| Oct 24, 1968 | Minot AFB, North Dakota B-52, radar, and a bright light |
A B-52 crew, ground personnel, and radar tracked a bright object that descended toward the base. The record card gives “Possible (PLASMA)” for the radar sighting and “Probable (AIRCRAFT)(B-52)” and “Probable Astro (SIRIUS)” for the ground sightings. The base’s own report lists four occurrences that “cannot be correlated or explained at this level.” | NARA file ↗ NAID 302580672 |
The 701 are not all listed here — these are the notable cases. The full index is Blue Book’s own index of sightings: National Archives, NAID 28921348. Two famous cases are deliberately left off this page for now: Nash–Fortenberry (July 14, 1952, Blue Book Case 1444) and the McMinnville photographs (May 11, 1950) — both are carried as unidentified, but their National Archives file units could not be verified from here, and this page does not list a case without a link to its original file.
This week’s Case of the Week is Socorro — the full story is on the homepage. For a single case told start to finish, with the file laid open, read the Spotlight: the Lubbock Lights. For where every document above comes from, see Sources, by agency.
A redaction hides something. An explanation settles something. An “unidentified” is neither — it is a file that stayed open, and the record is what it is.
Back to the homepage • Sources, by agency • Spotlight: the Lubbock Lights