Newest first
The latest events on the record: hearings, official reports, releases and reported encounters. Each one links to its sources.
Sightings8 Feb 1969
A fireball at about 07:05 GMT broke up over Chihuahua and scattered about two tonnes of stones across a field roughly 48 by 7 km near Pueblito de Allende. The carbonaceous chondrite became one of the most studied meteorites in history.
Photo: H. Raab, CC BY-SA 3.0
Government1969
An Air Force-funded University of Colorado study led by physicist Edward Condon was made public. It concluded that further UFO study was unlikely to advance science, and the Air Force later cited it when closing Project Blue Book.
Photo: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Public domain
Military1969
The Brazilian Air Force's IV Air Zone in Sao Paulo set up SIOANI, a system to collect and study reports of unidentified aerial objects, issuing bulletins from March 1969. It wound down by 1972; its records are now in Brazil's National Archive.
Photo: Tonyjeff, based on militar symbol., Public domain
GovernmentJan 1969
An Air Force-requested National Academy of Sciences panel chaired by Gerald Clemence reviewed the University of Colorado UFO study and judged its scope and methods sound, agreeing that further UFO study deserved no high priority. The Air Force cited this review when it closed Project Blue Book.
Photo: G. Edward Johnson, CC BY 4.0
GovernmentJan 1969
A chapter of the Air Force-funded Condon report, by astronomer Franklin Roach, reviewed what Mercury and Gemini crews saw in orbit. It found most sightings explainable but judged three unexplained: two by James McDivitt on Gemini 4 and one by Frank Borman on Gemini 7.
Photo: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Public domain
Close encounters1969
After a stormy board meeting, Donald Keyhoe gave up the directorship of NICAP and moved to its board; accounts cite money troubles. Jack Acuff took over as the civilian group declined in the years after the Air Force closed Project Blue Book.
Photo: CBS, "The Mike Wallace Interview" 1958 March 8, Public domain
GovernmentJan 1969
The Air Force-funded Condon Report included the 1956 Lakenheath-Bentwaters radar-visual case as its Case 2. The study said it learned of the case in winter 1968 from an unsolicited letter by the retired USAF watch supervisor on duty that night, and obtained the Blue Book file afterward.
Photo: Chris, CC BY-SA 2.0
Government27 Nov 1968
An internal RAND Corporation paper by George Kocher, marked for RAND use only, reviewed UFO reports and proposed a central report-receiving agency, a network of scientists, and a fresh look at existing sensor records. RAND said its views were tentative.
Photo: Cbl62, CC BY-SA 3.0
Military24 Oct 1968
Missile-site maintenance and security crews near Minot AFB reported a glowing object for over three hours, and a returning B-52 crew tracked a target on radar that paced the bomber while its radios failed to transmit. Project Blue Book attributed the reports to a natural phenomenon.
Photo: Project Blue Book, Public domain
Sightings18 Aug 1968
Emil Barnea, then an Army employee, reported photographing a disc-shaped object over the Hoia-Baciu forest outside Cluj around midday, with companions present. The photos became Romania's best-known UFO images; their authenticity has been debated and no official analysis is known.
Photo: Lajsikonik, CC BY-SA 4.0
Government29 Jul 1968
The House Committee on Science and Astronautics held a one-day symposium on UFOs chaired by Rep. J. Edward Roush. Six scientists, including J. Allen Hynek, James McDonald and Carl Sagan, presented views, and further papers were added to the printed record.
Photo: US Congress, Public domain
Military17 Jun 1968
On 16-17 June 1968, U.S. Air Force jets whose pilots took the radar returns of allied ships for enemy helicopters attacked several ships near the Vietnam DMZ, hitting HMAS Hobart and killing two sailors. In 1973 USAF chief Gen. George Brown described the episode as a series of UFO sightings.
Photo: RAN Public Relations, CC0
Media14 May 1968
John G. Fuller's Look article described turmoil in the Air Force-funded Colorado UFO study, quoting a 1966 memo by coordinator Robert Low that spoke of a 'trick' to make the project look objective. Condon called the article false and misleading; two dismissed staff members were central to the story.
Photo: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Public domain
Media2 Apr 1968
Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey premiered at the Uptown Theater in Washington. The film signals alien intelligence only through a black monolith rather than showing aliens. The Library of Congress added it to the National Film Registry in 1991.
Photo: Warner Brothers, Public domain
Government12 Mar 1968
Atmospheric physicist James McDonald told a Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute symposium that UFOs were a serious scientific problem, criticized Project Blue Book as inadequate, and called for well-funded international research.
Photo: United States Government, Public domain
Government29 Feb 1968
Pravda ran 'What? Flying Saucers Again?' by astronomer Ye. Mustel and two other senior Soviet scientists, saying UFO reports had natural explanations and no facts supported their reality. U.S. government translators and the Condon report recorded it.
Government8 Feb 1968
Edward Condon dismissed staff scientists David Saunders and Norman Levine from the Air Force-funded University of Colorado UFO study after a 1966 memo by coordinator Robert Low reached physicist James McDonald. Look magazine's May 1968 account made the dispute public.
Photo: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Public domain
Media1968
Swiss writer Erich von Daniken's first book, published in German in 1968 and in English as 'Chariots of the Gods?', argued ancient monuments showed alien visits. It launched the 'ancient astronaut' genre; scientists rejected his claims as contrary to historical and scientific evidence.
Photo: Stephen Jackson, Public domain
Government1968
Canada's National Research Council began collecting UFO sighting reports in 1968, taking the job from the Department of National Defence, which handed over reports dating from 1965. The NRC kept collecting until August 1995; the records are now at Library and Archives Canada.
Photo: Hayden Soloviev, CC BY 4.0
Media1968
Aviation Week avionics editor Philip J. Klass published his first UFO book, arguing that many reports, including the Exeter sightings, could be explained by corona discharge and other plasma effects akin to ball lightning. It began his long career as a leading UFO skeptic.
Photo: Robert Sheaffer, CC BY-SA 3.0
