Air Force to Terminate Project 'Blue Book' (Secretary of the Air Force press release, 17 December 1969)

U.S. Air Force Report landing 1960s 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 2026-07-06.

The original 17 December 1969 U.S. Air Force press release announcing the termination of Project Blue Book, quoting Secretary Robert C. Seamans, Jr., released through the DoD FOIA Reading Room.

This is the original 17 December 1969 press release, "Air Force to Terminate Project 'Blue Book,'" announcing the end of the U.S. Air Force's UFO investigation program. According to the release, Secretary of the Air Force Robert C. Seamans, Jr. stated that continuation of the project "cannot be justified either on the ground of national security or in the interest of science," a decision based on an independent University of Colorado study, a National Academy of Sciences review of that study, and the Air Force's own investigative record. The document is released through the DoD Executive Services Directorate FOIA 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 the original 17 December 1969 U.S. Air Force press release, 'Air Force to Terminate Project "Blue Book",' released through the DoD Executive Services Directorate FOIA Reading Room.
Who announced the termination and what did they say?
According to the release, Secretary of the Air Force Robert C. Seamans, Jr. stated that continuation of Project Blue Book 'cannot be justified either on the ground of national security or in the interest of science.' This archive reports the release's stated language and does not endorse it.
What was the termination based on?
According to the release, the decision was based on an independent University of Colorado study, a National Academy of Sciences review of that study, and the Air Force's own investigative record. This archive reports the document's stated rationale and does not interpret it.
Can I view or download the press release on this archive?
No. This archive is link-only and hosts no copy of the release. To read it, use the DoD FOIA Reading Room source linked from this record, which is official and authoritative.

Source & Classification

Record metadata

Record type
Report landing
Decade
1960s
Review status
published
Publication status
published

Official source link

https://www.esd.whs.mil/FOIA/Reading-Room/Reading-Room-List_2/UFOsandUAPs/

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

U.S. Air Force. "Air Force to Terminate Project 'Blue Book' (Secretary of the Air Force press release, 17 December 1969)". 1960s. Official source: https://www.esd.whs.mil/FOIA/Reading-Room/Reading-Room-List_2/UFOsandUAPs/. Cataloged by the independent UAP Records Archive (not an official or government source): https://uap-archive.org/uap/records/usaf-1969-project-blue-book-termination/.

APA

U.S. Air Force. (1960s). Air Force to Terminate Project 'Blue Book' (Secretary of the Air Force press release, 17 December 1969). https://www.esd.whs.mil/FOIA/Reading-Room/Reading-Room-List_2/UFOsandUAPs/

MLA

U.S. Air Force. "Air Force to Terminate Project 'Blue Book' (Secretary of the Air Force press release, 17 December 1969)." 1960s, https://www.esd.whs.mil/FOIA/Reading-Room/Reading-Room-List_2/UFOsandUAPs/.

Chicago

U.S. Air Force. "Air Force to Terminate Project 'Blue Book' (Secretary of the Air Force press release, 17 December 1969)." 1960s. https://www.esd.whs.mil/FOIA/Reading-Room/Reading-Room-List_2/UFOsandUAPs/.

BibTeX

@misc{uaprecords_usaf-1969-project-blue-book-termination,
  title  = {Air Force to Terminate Project 'Blue Book' (Secretary of the Air Force press release, 17 December 1969)},
  author = {U.S. Air Force},
  year   = {1960s},
  howpublished = {Official source: https://www.esd.whs.mil/FOIA/Reading-Room/Reading-Room-List_2/UFOsandUAPs/},
  note   = {Cataloged by the independent UAP Records Archive — not an official or government source},
  url    = {https://uap-archive.org/uap/records/usaf-1969-project-blue-book-termination/}
}

Embed this record

Copy this HTML to embed the record card with attribution on your site.

<figure style="max-width:600px;margin:0;">
  <a href="https://uap-archive.org/uap/records/usaf-1969-project-blue-book-termination/"><img src="https://uap-archive.org/og/records/usaf-1969-project-blue-book-termination.png" alt="Air Force to Terminate Project 'Blue Book' (Secretary of the Air Force press release, 17 December 1969) — UAP Records Archive" width="600" style="width:100%;height:auto;border:0;" loading="lazy"></a>
  <figcaption style="font-size:13px;line-height:1.5;">U.S. Air Force. &quot;Air Force to Terminate Project 'Blue Book' (Secretary of the Air Force press release, 17 December 1969)&quot;. 1960s. Official source: https://www.esd.whs.mil/FOIA/Reading-Room/Reading-Room-List_2/UFOsandUAPs/. Cataloged by the independent UAP Records Archive (not an official or government source): https://uap-archive.org/uap/records/usaf-1969-project-blue-book-termination/. <a href="https://uap-archive.org/uap/records/usaf-1969-project-blue-book-termination/">View record →</a></figcaption>
</figure>

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Related records

Evidence

License note (source-level)

U.S. Air Force press release, a work of the U.S. Government generally in the public domain under 17 U.S.C. §105; released through the DoD Executive Services Directorate FOIA Reading Room.

Archivist note

The original 17 December 1969 press release, “Air Force to Terminate Project ‘Blue Book,’” announcing the end of the U.S. Air Force’s UFO investigation program. According to the release, Secretary of the Air Force Robert C. Seamans, Jr. stated that continuation of the project “cannot be justified either on the ground of national security or in the interest of science,” a decision based on an independent University of Colorado study, review of that study by the National Academy of Sciences, and the Air Force’s own investigative record. This record links the DoD FOIA Reading Room page and the hosted press release — the official public access points — together with archived snapshots; it hosts no local copy. 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 esd.whs.mil ↗
  2. Archived 2026-06-12 ↗
  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 DoD FOIA Reading Room and its hosted document, with an archive snapshot, are the official, authoritative public access points.

Translation

View in 中文 →