MYSTERY WIRE — For almost 18 years, Project Blue Book was the official collection house for UFO reports. It operated officially from 1952 until January 1970. The end of Project Blue Book was signaled by the government in a document known as the Bolender Draft (below).

According to the Bolender Draft the goal of Project Blue Book was to “determine whether UFOs pose a threat to the security of the United States: and to determine whether UFOs exhibit any unique scientific information or advanced technology which could contribute to scientific or technical research.”

In 1966 the Air Force Office of Scientific Research contracted to have the University of Colorado conduct an independent scientific investigation of UFOs. The researchers recommended that Project Blue Book should be shut down. The government agreed and all activity officially stopped on January 19th, 1970.

According to the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP) Robert Todd obtained the release of the Bolender document in January 1979.

But as outlined in the Bolender Draft, reports of UFO encounters continued to be investigated by government workers. In summary section 6 it states, “reports of UFOs which could affect national security would continue to be handled through the standard Air Force procedures designed for this purpose.”

According to the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP) Robert Todd obtained the release of the Bolender document in January 1979.

Since Project Blue Book ended there have been several known government-funded programs and studies including:

  • AAWSAP — Advanced Aerospace Weapons Special Application Program
  • AATIP — Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program

Recently the man at the center of the UFO disclosure discussion has been Lue Elizondo. Elizondo is a primary reason we know about AATIP and Harry Reid’s role in funding the program which was exposed by the New York Times in December 2017. He’s also the man who got former U.S. Navy Cmdr. David Fravor to tell his story about a UFO sighted by Navy crews in 2004 off the coast of Southern California. That UFO is now known as the “Tic Tac” UFO.

There were almost 13,000 UFO reports in Project Blue Book that were archived by the government. You can read more about Project Blue Book right now on the Mystery Wire document page.