The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects

Edward J. Ruppelt (1923 - 1960)

'Straight from the horse's mouth', as they say. Edward Ruppelt was the first head of the U.S. Air Force's Project Blue Book, the official project initiated to investigate UFO reports beginning in 1952. This report from 1956 takes us inside these initial investigations, separates fact from fiction, and gives insight into who, when, where, and how sightings were reported and researched in open-minded fashion (for which Ruppelt was renowned), rather than in the typical hushed and secretive (and censored) manner most often associated with government and military reports which are released to the public.

Dozens of specific sightings are recounted, although hundreds more had come pouring into the agency during the period covered (and hundreds, if not thousands more that were never officially reported). Here we go inside the workings of Project Blue Book, which had evolved from 2 earlier Air Force projects, and we are witness to interviews, press conferences, Pentagon briefings, and many reports from civilian and military pilots, Air Traffic Controllers, office workers, farmers, and the man on the street who reported their accounts with UFOs. And not all sightings that were reported were restricted to the U.S.

Although Project Blue Book would continue until 1969, here we witness an in-depth account from it's inception and it's earliest stages, the political obstacles, the houndings from the press, the overall confusion encountered during and following many of the sightings, and the near hysteria caused during the heyday of UFO sightings, and all from the man who headed up the project in it's earliest years. The second edition of Ruppelt's work was supplemented with 3 additional chapters which were added in 1960, and we are fortunate that they are included here. (Summary by Roger Melin)

Genre(s): *Non-fiction, Science

Language: English

Section Chapter Reader Time
Play 00 00 - Forward Roger Melin
00:05:21
Play 01 01 - Project Blue Book and the UFO Story Roger Melin
00:49:56
Play 02 02 - The Era of Confusion Begins Roger Melin
00:51:04
Play 03 03 - The Classics Roger Melin
01:03:30
Play 04 04 - Green Fireballs, Project Twinkle, Little Lights, and Grudge Roger Melin
00:43:18
Play 05 05 - The Dark Ages Roger Melin
00:35:05
Play 06 06 - The Presses Roll--The Air Force Shrugs Roger Melin
00:49:35
Play 07 07 - The Pentagon Rumbles Roger Melin
00:43:58
Play 08 08 - The Lubbock Lights, Unabridged Roger Melin
00:51:24
Play 09 09 - The New Project Grudge Roger Melin
00:41:37
Play 10 10 - Project Blue Book and the Big Build-Up Roger Melin
00:53:56
Play 11 11 - The Big Flap Roger Melin
00:58:10
Play 12 12 - The Washington Merry-Go-Round Roger Melin
00:57:22
Play 13 13 - Hoax or Horror? Roger Melin
00:46:28
Play 14 14 - Digesting the Data Roger Melin
00:45:42
Play 15 15 - The Radiation Story Roger Melin
00:33:48
Play 16 16 - The Hierarchy Ponders Roger Melin
00:56:37
Play 17 17 - What Are UFO's? Roger Melin
01:03:25
Play 18 18 - And They're Still Flying Roger Melin
01:08:02
Play 19 19 - Off They Go Into the Wild Blue Yonder Roger Melin
00:25:04
Play 20 20 - Do They or Don't They? Roger Melin
00:21:44