FBI Files Reveal Early UFO Sightings and Government Response

Declassified FBI files include a Portland police report of a round silver object that changed shape, and a Louisville newspaper photographer's film of a flying saucer, both forwarded to military intelligence.

Published

September 7, 2026

Declassified

Date not listed

Source agency

The Black Vault (FOIA archive)

fbiufofoiaearlysightings

FBI Files Document Early UFO Sightings The FBI files

American public long before the term "UFO" entered common parlance. Assembled from field office memoranda, civilian correspondence, and newspaper clippings, these records capture a moment when sightings of strange aerial objects were frequent enough to warrant official attention, yet puzzling enough to resist easy explanation. The collection spans a Portland, Oregon police observation in September 1947, a Louisville, Kentucky photographer's film from June 1950, and a Chicago letter describing a supposed secret craft—each forwarded through FBI channels with varying degrees of scrutiny.

What emerges is not a unified theory of what these objects were, but a portrait of institutional process: local officers reporting to the Bureau, field agents checking indices, and headquarters routing information to military intelligence. The documents reveal a spectrum of responses, from the meticulous documentation of multiple credible witnesses to the cautious handling of anonymous, unverifiable claims. Notably, the FBI did not adjudicate the reality of the…

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Based on the official release at https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/federal-bureau-of-investigation-fbi-files-on-ufos/

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