Case Files on Sightings of Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs), 1953–1960 — NARA Record Group 341

NARA Collection landing 1940s 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 2026-06-02.

A National Archives Catalog series of U.S. Air Force case files on unidentified flying object sightings, 1953-1960, held in Record Group 341 (Records of Headquarters U.S. Air Force). This archive links to the official catalog entry and does not host the documents.

This record is a series in the National Archives Catalog titled "Case Files on Sightings of Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs), 1953-1960." The files are part of Record Group 341, Records of Headquarters U.S. Air Force (Air Staff). The series falls within the era of the U.S. Air Force's UFO investigation programs: Project Blue Book (1947-1969), headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, ran during these years, and the 4602d Air Intelligence Service Squadron conducted field investigations of UFO reports in the mid-1950s. This archive provides a link to the National Archives Catalog entry for the series; it does not self-host or reproduce the underlying documents, and it does not characterize the contents of individual case files. Readers seeking the records access them through the linked National Archives Catalog page. The National Archives also maintains a broader UAP research topic page as a portal to U.S. Government UAP records.

Common questions

What is the NARA Record Group 341 UFO case files series, 1953-1960?
It is a series in the National Archives Catalog comprising U.S. Air Force case files on sightings of unidentified flying objects from 1953 to 1960. It is held within Record Group 341, the Records of Headquarters U.S. Air Force (Air Staff).
Can the documents be read on this archive?
No. This archive is link-only: it points to the National Archives Catalog entry for the series and does not host or reproduce the underlying documents. The records are accessed through the linked National Archives Catalog page.
How does this series relate to Project Blue Book?
The series covers 1953-1960, a span within Project Blue Book (the U.S. Air Force UFO investigation program that ran 1947-1969 from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base). During the mid-1950s, the 4602d Air Intelligence Service Squadron conducted field investigations of UFO reports supporting Blue Book.

Source & Classification

Record metadata

Record type
Collection landing
Decade
1940s
Review status
published
Publication status
published

Official source link

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/23857159

Documents are linked to official source pages; copyright and license notes are recorded per source. This archive does not embed PDFs or videos.

Topics

Cite this record

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). "Case Files on Sightings of Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs), 1953–1960 — NARA Record Group 341". 1940s. Official source: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/23857159. Cataloged by the independent UAP Records Archive (not an official or government source): https://uap-archive.org/uap/records/nara-rg341-ufo-case-files-1953-1960/.

BibTeX

@misc{uaprecords_nara-rg341-ufo-case-files-1953-1960,
  title  = {Case Files on Sightings of Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs), 1953–1960 — NARA Record Group 341},
  author = {National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)},
  year   = {1940s},
  howpublished = {Official source: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/23857159},
  note   = {Cataloged by the independent UAP Records Archive — not an official or government source},
  url    = {https://uap-archive.org/uap/records/nara-rg341-ufo-case-files-1953-1960/}
}

Evidence

License note (source-level)

U.S. Government records (U.S. Air Force), generally public domain under 17 U.S.C. §105; held in NARA Record Group 341 (Records of Headquarters U.S. Air Force (Air Staff)). Referenced via the official National Archives Catalog entry only; not self-hosted by this archive.

Archivist note

This series comprises case files on sightings of unidentified flying objects, 1953–1960, among the U.S. Air Force records held in Record Group 341 (Records of Headquarters U.S. Air Force (Air Staff)). This archive links to the official National Archives Catalog entry and does not self-host the records.

Uncertainty / Limits

Archive state (this release)

Record status
Official link verified
Review status
published
Publication status
published
Archive URL
Not archived in U3
Local copy
Not stored in U3
Summary
Not published
Translation
Not published

U3 does not download or locally store source files.

Translation

Translation: not published in this release.