The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects, written by Captain Edward Ruppelt in 1956, was the first serious, unbiased account written about UFOs by anyone connected with the official government investigations of UFO phenomena. Ruppelt, who coined the term "unidentified flying objects" and headed Project Blue Book from 1951 to 1953, includes his personal investigations and findings in his extensive research on UFOs. He discusses both well-publicized UFO sightings and lesser-known accounts, as well as the inner workings of Air Force UFO research. This edition is the original 1956 edition; in 1960 Ruppelt released a second edition which seemed to weaken his original views that some UFO reports could not be explained, and reinforce the Air Force's position that there was nothing mysterious about UFOs. EDWARD J. RUPPELT (1923-1960) was the head of Project Blue Book during the Korean War, from 1951-1953. He served at the Air Technical Intelligence Center, where he took over Project Grudge, a formal investigation by the U.S. military with the goal of debunking extraterrestrial and UFO activity. Under Ruppelt's supervision, the project, later named Blue Book, experienced its most fruitful years, when investigations were properly conducted without judgment or disdain. Many UFO researchers hail him as a pioneer of UFO research and hero in the fight to earn respectability for the field.

Excerpt: ...of hoaxes that always accompany UFO publicity. Last, it would provide us with material on which to base a study of the effect of newspaper publicity upon the number and type of UFO reports. Colonel Dunn liked the idea of the clipping service, and it went into effect soon after the first publicity had appeared. Every three or four days we would get an envelope full of clippings. In March the clipping service was sending the clippings to us in letter-sized envelopes. The envelopes were thin-maybe there would be a dozen or so clippings in each one. Then they began to get thicker and thicker, until the people who were doing the clipping switched to using manila envelopes. Then the manila envelopes began to get thicker and thicker. By May we were up to old shoe boxes. The majority of the newspaper stories in the shoe boxes were based on material that had come from ATIC. All of these inquiries from the press were adding to Blue Book's work load and to my problems. Normally a military unit such as ATIC has its own public information officer, but we had none so I was it. I was being quoted quite freely in the press and was repeatedly being snarled at by someone in the Pentagon. It was almost a daily occurrence to have people from the "puzzle palace" call and indignantly ask, "Why did you tell them that?" They usually referred to some bit of information that somebody didn't think should have been released. I finally gave up and complained to Colonel Dunn. I suggested that any contacts with the press be made through the Office of Public Information in the Pentagon. These people were trained and paid to do this job; I wasn't. Colonel Dunn heartily agreed because every time I got chewed out he at least got a dirty look. Colonel Dunn called General Samford's office and they brought in General Sory Smith of the Department of Defense, Office of Public Information. General Smith appointed a civilian on the Air Force Press Desk, Al Chop, to handle all inquiries...

The meticulous account of the top military brass on UFOs in the United States. Written and documented by the former head of the Air Force Project Blue Book, the federal organization in charge of a formal government study of UFO's. "It is without question the most satisfactory and satisfying evaluation of saucer sightings to appear in print." --Cleveland Plain Dealer "Ruppelt's book is an objective, calmly written work that should be in the hands of every sober student of the UFO mystery." --Baltimore Sun "His investigations, as his writings indicate, were thorough, unbiased and competent. I can think of no one better qualified to write on the Air Force activities in this regard. His book is a splendid account of this work, readable and enjoyable. It should be of wide interest to both the professional and the layman." --F.C. Durant III, President International Astronautical Fed.

This is a book about unidentified flying objects: UFOs - "flying saucers." It is actually more than a book; it is a report because it is the first time that anyone, either military or civilian, has brought together in one document. But more often than not these facts have been obscured by secrecy and confusion, a situation that has led to wild speculation on one end of the scale and an almost dangerously blase attitude on the other. It is only when all of the facts are laid out that a correct evaluation can be made. The report was difficult to write because it involves something that doesn't officially exist. It is well known that ever since the first flying saucer was reported in June 1947 the Air Force has officially said that there is no proof that such a thing as an interplanetary spaceship exists. But what is not well known is that this conclusion is far from being unanimous among the military and their scientific advisers because of the one word, proof; so the UFO investigations continue. The hassle over the word "proof" boils down to one question: What constitutes proof? Does a UFO have to land at the River Entrance to the Pentagon, near the Joint Chiefs of Staff offices? Or is it proof when a ground radar station detects a UFO, sends a jet to intercept it, the jet pilot sees it, and locks on with his radar, only to have the UFO streak away at a phenomenal speed? Is it proof when a jet pilot fires at a UFO and sticks to his story even under the threat of court-martial? Does this constitute proof? The at times hotly debated answer to this question may be the answer to the question, "Do the UFO's really exist?" I'll give you the facts - all of the facts - you decide

The official Air Technical Intelligence Center reports of their findings, many details from which are revealed for the first time, contain some completely baffling detailed accounts of UFO sightings by thoroughly reliable witnesses. these are the complete official accounts of the classic cases, as well as a wealth of less-publicized but equally amazing incidents. While others who have written books and articles on UFOs imply that they were conferring with officials in the inner sanctum, Mr. Ruppelt, as this fascinating book makes clear, was the inner sanctum.