CIA's Role in the Study of UFOs, 1947–90 (Gerald K. Haines, Studies in Intelligence, 1997)

CIA Report landing 1990s Official link verified

Summary

AI-assisted summary — not an official document and not authoritative. It condenses the machine-extracted text; the original is the only authoritative source. Generated by summary:claude-opus-4-8@v1; last reviewed 2026-07-05.

A 1997 historical study by CIA historian Gerald K. Haines, 'CIA's Role in the Study of UFOs, 1947–90,' published in the agency journal Studies in Intelligence, reviewing four decades of CIA interest in the UFO question.

This is a historical study by CIA historian Gerald K. Haines, "CIA's Role in the Study of UFOs, 1947–90," published in the agency's in-house journal *Studies in Intelligence* in 1997. The study traces the CIA's interest and involvement in the UFO controversy from the late 1940s through 1990. Among its statements, it reports that agency officials later attributed a majority of UFO sightings from the late 1950s through the 1960s to classified U-2 and OXCART (A-12) reconnaissance flights. It is a secondary, analytical study by an agency historian rather than a primary case file. The document is published through the CIA FOIA Electronic Reading Room. This archive links the official record only and endorses no conclusion beyond what the document records.

Common questions

What is this record?
It is an archive entry pointing to a 1997 historical study by CIA historian Gerald K. Haines, 'CIA's Role in the Study of UFOs, 1947–90,' published in the agency's in-house journal Studies in Intelligence. The document is published through the CIA FOIA Electronic Reading Room.
Is this a primary UFO case file?
No. It is a secondary, analytical study written by an agency historian, reviewing the CIA's involvement in the UFO question from 1947 to 1990. This archive links it as a historical study, not as a primary investigation record.
What does the study say about U-2 flights?
According to the study, agency officials later attributed a majority of UFO sightings from the late 1950s through the 1960s to classified U-2 and OXCART reconnaissance flights. This archive reports the document's statements and does not endorse them.
Can I view or download the study on this archive?
No. This archive is link-only and hosts no copy of the study. To read it, use the official CIA FOIA Electronic Reading Room source linked from this record, which is authoritative.

Source & Classification

Record metadata

Record type
Report landing
Decade
1990s
Review status
published
Publication status
published

Official source link

https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/0005517742

Documents are linked to their official source pages, with a local preservation copy of the public-domain U.S.-government document where available; the official source is authoritative. Videos are linked, not hosted. Copyright and license notes are recorded per source.

Topics

Cite this record

Central Intelligence Agency. "CIA's Role in the Study of UFOs, 1947–90 (Gerald K. Haines, Studies in Intelligence, 1997)". 1990s. Official source: https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/0005517742. Cataloged by the independent UAP Records Archive (not an official or government source): https://uap-archive.org/uap/records/cia-1997-haines-ufo-study/.

APA

Central Intelligence Agency. (1990s). CIA's Role in the Study of UFOs, 1947–90 (Gerald K. Haines, Studies in Intelligence, 1997). https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/0005517742

MLA

Central Intelligence Agency. "CIA's Role in the Study of UFOs, 1947–90 (Gerald K. Haines, Studies in Intelligence, 1997)." 1990s, https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/0005517742.

Chicago

Central Intelligence Agency. "CIA's Role in the Study of UFOs, 1947–90 (Gerald K. Haines, Studies in Intelligence, 1997)." 1990s. https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/0005517742.

BibTeX

@misc{uaprecords_cia-1997-haines-ufo-study,
  title  = {CIA's Role in the Study of UFOs, 1947–90 (Gerald K. Haines, Studies in Intelligence, 1997)},
  author = {Central Intelligence Agency},
  year   = {1990s},
  howpublished = {Official source: https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/0005517742},
  note   = {Cataloged by the independent UAP Records Archive — not an official or government source},
  url    = {https://uap-archive.org/uap/records/cia-1997-haines-ufo-study/}
}

Embed this record

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<figure style="max-width:600px;margin:0;">
  <a href="https://uap-archive.org/uap/records/cia-1997-haines-ufo-study/"><img src="https://uap-archive.org/og/records/cia-1997-haines-ufo-study.png" alt="CIA's Role in the Study of UFOs, 1947–90 (Gerald K. Haines, Studies in Intelligence, 1997) — UAP Records Archive" width="600" style="width:100%;height:auto;border:0;" loading="lazy"></a>
  <figcaption style="font-size:13px;line-height:1.5;">Central Intelligence Agency. &quot;CIA's Role in the Study of UFOs, 1947–90 (Gerald K. Haines, Studies in Intelligence, 1997)&quot;. 1990s. Official source: https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/0005517742. Cataloged by the independent UAP Records Archive (not an official or government source): https://uap-archive.org/uap/records/cia-1997-haines-ufo-study/. <a href="https://uap-archive.org/uap/records/cia-1997-haines-ufo-study/">View record →</a></figcaption>
</figure>

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Evidence

License note (source-level)

U.S. Central Intelligence Agency historical study, published in the agency journal Studies in Intelligence and released through the CIA FOIA Electronic Reading Room; a work of the U.S. Government, generally in the public domain under 17 U.S.C. §105.

Archivist note

A historical study by CIA historian Gerald K. Haines, “CIA’s Role in the Study of UFOs, 1947–90,” published in the agency’s in-house journal Studies in Intelligence (1997). The study reviews the CIA’s interest and involvement in the UFO question from the late 1940s through 1990. Among its statements, the study reports that a majority of UFO sightings from the late 1950s through the 1960s were later attributed by agency officials to classified U-2 and OXCART (A-12) reconnaissance flights. This record links the official CIA FOIA Electronic Reading Room document page and its archived snapshot; it hosts no local copy. It is a secondary, analytical study written by an agency historian, not a primary case file. This archive is independent and is not an official or government source, asserts no extraterrestrial origin, and endorses no conclusion beyond what the official document records.

Uncertainty / Limits

Archive state (this release)

  1. Official source cia.gov ↗
  2. Archived 2025-03-18 ↗
  3. Added to archive
  4. Last revised
Record status
Official link verified
Review status
published
Publication status
published
Local copy
Not stored in U3
Summary
Published
Translation
Published — View in 中文 →

U3 does not download or locally store source files; the official CIA FOIA Electronic Reading Room document and its archive snapshot are the authoritative public access points.

Translation

View in 中文 →