CASE FILE C-3
The CIA's Own History: Its Spy Planes Were Over Half of UFO Reports - Case C-3
2026-09-11 · Declassified UAP records
The CIA's internal history of its U-2 and OXCART reconnaissance programs, written by Gregory W. Pedlow and Donald E. Welzenbach and once marked SECRET NOFORN, contains a short section titled "U-2s, UFOs, and Operation Blue Book." It says high-altitude testing of the U-2 led to "an unexpected side effect—a tremendous increase in reports of unidentified flying objects."
In the mid-1950s, the history explains, airliners flew between 10,000 and 20,000 feet and military bombers like the B-47 and B-57 stayed below 40,000 feet. The U-2 flew above 60,000 feet, at a time when no one believed manned flight was possible that high. Reports were most common in the early evening from airline pilots flying east to west: their aircraft was already in darkness, while a U-2 far above still caught the sun on its silver wings and appeared "to be fiery objects."
Pilots and ground observers wrote to the Air Force. According to the history, Blue Book investigators "regularly called on the Agency's Project Staff in Washington to check reported UFO sightings against U-2 flight logs," which let them eliminate the majority of reports, "although they could not reveal to the letter writers the true cause." The history then states that "U-2 and later OXCART flights accounted for more than one-half of all UFO reports during the late 1950s and most of the 1960s."
That figure is sourced to a single footnote: "Information supplied by James Cunningham to Donald E. Welzenbach." The history does not give a count, a table, or a method behind it. It also says the letters "led to" Operation Blue Book, although Blue Book began in 1952, before the U-2 first flew. The full section is transcribed below, followed by the narration transcript.
The Document
SECRET NOFORN (markings struck through; declassified) 1954-1974 (program history)
The Central Intelligence Agency and Overhead Reconnaissance: The U-2 and OXCART Programs, 1954-1974 - "U-2s, UFOs, and Operation Blue Book"
U-2s, UFOs, and Operation Blue Book
High-altitude testing of the U-2 soon led to an unexpected side effect—a tremendous increase in reports of unidentified flying objects (UFOs). In the mid-1950s, most commercial airliners flew at altitudes between 10,000 and 20,000 feet and military aircraft like the B-47s and B-57s operated at altitudes below 40,000 feet. Consequently, once U-2s started flying at altitudes above 60,000 feet, air-traffic controllers began receiving increasing numbers of UFO reports.
Such reports were most prevalent in the early evening hours from pilots of airliners flying from east to west. When the sun dropped below the horizon of an airliner flying at 20,000 feet, the plane was in darkness. But, if a U-2 was airborne in the vicinity of the airliner at the same time, its horizon from an altitude of 60,000 feet was considerably more distant, and, being so high in the sky, its silver wings would catch and reflect the rays of the sun and appear to the airliner pilot, 40,000 feet below, to be fiery objects. Even during daylight hours, the silver bodies of the high-flying U-2s could catch the sun and cause reflections or glints that could be seen at lower altitudes and even on the ground. At this time, no one believed manned flight was possible above 60,000 feet, so no one expected to see an object so high in the sky.
Not only did the airline pilots report their sightings to air-traffic controllers, but they and ground-based observers also wrote letters to the Air Force unit at Wright Air Development Command in Dayton charged with investigating such phenomena. This, in turn, led to the Air Force's Operation BLUE BOOK. Based at Wright-Patterson, the operation collected all reports of UFO sightings. Air Force investigators then attempted to explain such sightings by linking them to natural phenomena. BLUE BOOK investigators regularly called on the Agency's Project Staff in Washington to check reported UFO sightings against U-2 flight logs. This enabled the investigators to eliminate the majority of the UFO reports, although they could not reveal to the letter writers the true cause of the UFO sightings. U-2 and later OXCART flights accounted for more than one-half of all UFO reports during the late 1950s and most of the 1960s.[49]
- [48] OSA History, chap. 7, pp. 17-19 (TS Codeword). (Footnote to the preceding paragraph on the November 1955 MATS crash.)
- [49] Information supplied by James Cunningham to Donald E. Welzenbach (U).
Released in the PURSUE disclosure (CIA-UAP-003). The history runs to 406 pages; transcribed here in full is the section "U-2s, UFOs, and Operation Blue Book" (Chapter 2, pages 72-73) with its footnotes. Redactions elsewhere on page 73 do not affect this section. · Central Intelligence Agency - history by Gregory W. Pedlow and Donald E. Welzenbach (CIA-UAP-003)
Where It Happened
Full Transcript
In the mid nineteen fifties, air traffic controllers began receiving more and more U.F.O. reports. The C.I.A.'s own secret history explains where many of them came from.
It was the U-2. The agency's spy plane flew above sixty thousand feet, when airliners cruised at ten to twenty thousand, and no one believed manned flight was possible that high.
Reports peaked in the early evening, from airline pilots flying east to west. Their plane was already in darkness. Forty thousand feet above them, a U-2's silver wings still caught the sun, and looked like fiery objects.
When people wrote to the Air Force, Blue Book investigators called the C.I.A.'s project staff in Washington, and checked the sightings against U-2 flight logs.
That eliminated the majority of reports, but they could not tell the letter writers the true cause. The history says U-2 and later OXCART flights were more than half of all U.F.O. reports, from the late fifties through most of the sixties.
One thing worth knowing. That figure rests on a single footnote: information supplied by James Cunningham to the historian Donald Welzenbach.
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Sources
All documents and footage are authentic, public-domain U.S. government releases. Narration is AI-generated text-to-speech.