UFO cover stories · 1955-1969 · US

Spy planes behind UFO reports

A 1997 CIA history by Gerald Haines reported that CIA officials later estimated over half of UFO reports from the late 1950s through the 1960s came from manned reconnaissance flights, mainly the U-2. Air Force Blue Book investigators who knew this did not tell the public. Haines wrote that this led the Air Force to make "misleading and deceptive statements to the public" to protect sensitive programmes.

A black Lockheed A-12 reconnaissance aircraft in flight above clouds.
A Lockheed A-12, the aircraft of the CIA's OXCART programme, in flight. High-altitude U-2 and OXCART flights of the late 1950s and 1960s generated many of the UFO reports the Air Force explained away. Credit: US Air Force (DVIC), via Wikimedia Commons. License: Public domain.
Run by
CIA and US Air Force
The U-2 and OXCART reconnaissance programmes, and Project Blue Book, the Air Force's UFO office
Of UFO reports, late 1950s to 1960s
Over half
A later estimate by CIA officials who worked on the U-2 and OXCART projects, not a contemporaneous count
Share of reports the Air Force called unexplained
5.9% then 4%
In 1955 and 1956; the Air Force explained many sightings as natural phenomena such as ice crystals and temperature inversions
Time to exposure
August 1997
Haines' study was published in Studies in Intelligence and reported in the press; Blue Book ended on 17 December 1969

Timeline

  1. Nov 1954 · Context

    The CIA enters the U-2 programme. The aircraft can fly at 60,000 feet, while mid-1950s airliners generally flew between 10,000 and 20,000 feet.

  2. Aug 1955 · Context

    U-2 test flights begin. Commercial pilots and air traffic controllers report a large increase in UFO sightings. The early U-2s were silver and reflected sunlight, especially at sunrise and sunset.

  3. 1955-1956 · It worked

    Blue Book investigators check with the CIA's U-2 Project Staff and attribute many sightings to U-2 flights, but do not reveal the cause to the public. The share the Air Force calls unexplained falls to 5.9 percent in 1955 and 4 percent in 1956.

  4. Late 1950s-1960s · It worked

    Per later estimates of CIA officials who worked on the U-2 and OXCART projects, over half of UFO reports are caused by manned reconnaissance flights over the US.

  5. 17 Dec 1969 · Context

    Air Force Secretary Robert Seamans announces the termination of Project Blue Book.

  6. Aug 1997 · Exposed

    Haines' study, "CIA's Role in the Study of UFOs, 1947-90", is released. It says the Air Force's misleading statements, "While perhaps justified", "added fuel to the later conspiracy theories and the coverup controversy of the 1970s". The New York Times News Service reports it on 3 August 1997.

The Air Force told the public that sightings were natural phenomena while its investigators knew that many were secret CIA aircraft. The CIA later called these statements "misleading and deceptive", and also "perhaps justified" by the need to protect the programme.

“This led the Air Force to make misleading and deceptive statements to the public in order to allay public fears and to protect an extraordinarily sensitive national security project.”

Gerald K. Haines, CIA's Role in the Study of UFOs, 1947-90, Studies in Intelligence, 1997 (as quoted by the New York Times News Service, 3 August 1997)

The playbook

  1. 1

    Borrowed authority

    The Air Force, as the official authority on UFO reports, supplied the explanations the public received.

  2. 2

    Hidden messenger

    The real cause, CIA reconnaissance aircraft, was not named; sightings were attributed to ice crystals, temperature inversions and similar natural phenomena.

  3. 3

    Suppress the correction

    Blue Book investigators checked with the U-2 Project Staff and did not reveal the true cause. The CIA's own account came decades later.

Through the FATE framework

  • Focus3/10

    The explanations turned attention to everyday natural causes.

  • Authority7/10

    The Air Force was the official source, and the real cause was classified.

  • Tribe1/10

    No appeal to group identity.

  • Emotion4/10

    The stated aim was to "allay public fears".

Propaganda techniques used

Same playbook today

The same playbook can be run by anyone, on any side. We list every current PSYOP that matches Spy planes behind UFO reports, whoever is behind it.

No live PSYOP we track matches this playbook right now. When one does, it will appear here.