In 1952, Project Blue Book was launched by the United States Air Force. Project Blue Book was one of a series of systematic studies of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) conducted by the U.S. military.

The project was the revival of two similar projects. The first being Project Sign, which was active for most of 1948 when it was dissolved and replaced with Project Grudge. Grudge was another short-lived U.S. Air Force study to investigate UFOs. Grudge continued until 1951. (1)

Similar to its predecessors, Project Blue Book had two goals: To scientifically analyze UFO-related data and to determine if UFO’s were a threat to national security. (2)

Despite having collected 12,618 UFO reports, in 1969 Project Blue Book was ordered to shut down. According to the National Reconnaissance Office, a number of the reports could be explained by flights of the formerly secret reconnaissance planes, such as the U-2 and A-12. (3)









The Condon Report and the “New” Project Blue Book

According to a document released by the Department of the Air Control Force that has been archived on the FBI’s Vault section of its website, the decision to discontinue UFO investigations was based on an evaluation of a report prepared by the University of Colorado entitled, “Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects.”

The controversial paper – known as the “Condon Report” – stated that the conclusions of Project Blue Book are:

“No UFO reported, investigated, and evaluated by the Air Force has ever given any indication of threat to our national security, there has been no evidence submitted to or discovered by the Air Force that sightings categorized as “unidentified” represent technological developments or principles beyond the range of present day scientific knowledge, and there has been no evidence indicating that sightings categorized as “unidentified” are extraterrestrial vehicles.” (4)

All of that is standard Ufology history for anyone interested in the subject. However, what many people don’t realize is that in 1989, an organisation that went by the name, “The New Project Blue Book” contacted the FBI.

In a letter to William Sessions, Director of the FBI, dated July 24 1989, the New Project Blue Book said it wished to issue a “challenge” to the FBI, pertaining to UFOs.