Documents / Report
This August 1949 technical report from the US Air Force Air Materiel Command presents Project Grudge's investigation of unidentified flying objects through January 1949. Drawing on consultants including Dr. J. A. Hynek, Rand Corporation, the Air Weather Service and Dr. P. M. Fitts, it explains most of 244 incidents as balloons, aircraft, astronomical phenomena, hoaxes or psychological errors. It concludes the objects pose no direct threat to national security and recommends reducing the investigation in scope.
No. 217: Object reported moving into winds of 20-30K velocity and going faster than C-7 doing 120 "P.H. The speed and direction are apparently very accurate since the C-7 was parallolizing the object's course and several readings were made of the compass and air speed indicator. If report is true, definitely no balloon. No. 216. No date given, consequently no check could be made of surface or upper-air data. As stated by observer, a flare is probable answer. No. 21y. Time of sighting oolines within a few minutes of the release time of the O&AP rewinsonde at Xentburgh and a pilot balloon sounding at New York. Very little description. It can be interpreted as either being a burning balloon or a meteor. One negative remark was that the object moved from dust to dust, an incessible situation for a balloon since winds at all levels were weakerly. No. 220; Wird at all levels U. to 707; object reported flying directly into these winds. Also made definite turn from flying due North to North Northwest. Sighting time 1 1/2 hours after scheduled release times at alameda, Sacramento and McClellan AFP. ## b5. 221. To information. Ex. 222. Wind aloft charts not available on this one. Object sighted 2 1/2 hours after scheduled release time at which time it was plotted by a radar DF station to be at 27,000. A short time later the same station reported the object circling at 10,000; agreed estimated at between 200-500 W.P.N. Post likely not a balloon. No. 223. Definitely not a scheduled release balloon since it was seen to rise from the ground one hour before release time at Albequerque and was seen by various persons as late as four hours after its original sighting. Seventeen individuals saw and reported this object as definitely a green flare. All commercial and governmental airfields were questioned concerning balloon releases with no success. No. 224: Described exactly as that in No. 223, only at an altitude of 15,500 feet Dean Sea Level, 7,000 feet above the north. Seen 2 1/2 hours after scheduled balloon release time. Wind at levels from 10,000 to 15,000 was NW while flare was reported as travelling at very high speed in a NWN direction. Very accurate observation made by two 7.3.1. agents. Definitely not a weather balloon. No date given. Object sighted within 15 minutes of release time of pilot balloon soundings at Albuquerque at low altitude, 500 feet. Exploded in red spray at 200 feet. This exact phenomena occurred on three different occasions at the same time which would seem to eliminate possibility of burning weather balloon.
Report, from the classic collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is under it. The text was read from the page images by an OCR model; expect the odd misread word. 413 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.