The order further provided that only hoaxes, practical jokes, and erroneous UFO reports could be given to the press. All radar-scope photographs of UFOs were now classified, and public release of unexplained sightings was forbidden.12
AFR 200-2, a clear implementation of the Robertson Panel recommendations, signified a rapid drop-off in reported sightings by air force personnel. Henceforth, Blue Book cases constituted a distinct minority of compelling UFO sightings. That reality contrasted starkly with Blue Book’s public image as the UFO investigative office. Some good sightings still reached Blue Book, but fewer escaped as “unidentified” than in previous years. For three consecutive nights, for example, from July 29 to August 1, a disc-shaped UFO descended over Sequoia-Kings National Park in California. On the final night, a squadron of air force fighters tried to force it to land, but the craft easily outmaneuvered the jets and soared away.13 Then, on August 6, at least seventy-five lighted objects appeared between 5 P.M. and midnight near the Naval Air Station at Pearl Harbor. The objects were seen visually and tracked on radar (both ground and air); some hovered, others moved swiftly. Finally, in Moscow, Idaho, on August 9, several GOC personnel reported a large glowing disc, and three F-86 fighters tried to close on the object. The disc dived toward the three aircraft before speeding away. None of these cases were Blue Book unknowns.14
The few sightings Blue Book now classified as unknown were usually less dramatic and more innocuous than the others. This tendency became more pronounced as the years passed, so that most of the unknowns were of the vague “lights in the night sky” variety. One of the few unknowns for the second half of 1953, and among the more interesting, occurred on August 20, near Castle AFB in California. The crew of a TB-29 bomber/trainer plane saw a greyish oval object shortly after 9 P.M. The object made four passes at the airplane, then dived vertically as if it were two objects.15 Only a handful of officially unsolved cases remained for 1953, none of which were especially memorable, despite several involving military personnel.16
Of greater interest were the reports that went elsewhere. These came to light in various ways, through people like Keyhoe, internal documents released through FOIA, foreign news stories, and so on. A GOC report from San Rafael, California, dated August 28, 1953, is one such case. This report was forwarded to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the CIA, and the newly formed National Security Agency. It does not appear to have gone through ATIC. The report described:
Fourteen cigar-shaped objects without wings with ... lights on them in loose v formation. About the size of a bi-motor ... acft. No sound or means of propulsion observed. One object appeared to be leading the formation at an estimated speed of 200 mph.... Objects were first observed heading west . . . through breaks in the clouds. Then objects appeared to turn and head north disappearing behind clouds ... observer appeared to be reliable and has been an observer on duty with GOC for sev years during WWII and during postwar years.17
The U.S. appears to have been interested in a UFO encounter from Port Moresby, New Guinea, on August 31, 1953. (Vallee gives the date August 23.)18 The deputy director of the Civilian Aviation Department in New Guinea took ninety-four frames of motion picture film that showed a disc-shaped object come out of a peculiar cloud, make a ninety-degree turn, and climb steeply. The former Minister for Air described the man who took the film as a “reliable, credible person.” The
