Project Grudge:

Project Grudge was the second UFO investigation project by the US Air Force and replaced project Sign in April 1949. In December 1949, a magazine article on UFOs written by the famous aviation writer, Donald Keyhoe, based on his private investigations and military contacts, elicited enormous media attention. In it, Keyhoe insisted that UFOs were alien spacecraft and that the U.S. Government was keeping this knowledge secret. In response to the furor that Keyhoe's article caused, and to demonstrate that there was nothing to get excited about, the Air Force reduced Project Grudge to a routine intelligence effort. However, in October 1951, Project Grudge was returned to its original status as a special project. This investigation ended in March 1952. The final report suggested that most sightings had been explained. However, a large percentage of the reports were left either unexplained or only conditionally explained.

My main page about Project Grudge is here.

ONE OF THE MANY AVAILABLE DOCUMENTS:

THE CONTEXT:

This is a confidential memo from the Strategic Air Command to the director of the FBI, March 22, 1949.

First, it is one of the many document about the numerous sightings of the "green fireballs" in New Mexico mainly, these sightings lasted for for than 18 months in 1949 - 1950.

Second, it indicates that for the Strategic Air Command, the "green fireball" belonged to the category of "Unidentifed Aircraft" and not meteors.

Third, it indicates that the whole subject is classified secret.

Fourth, it indicates that the "green fireballs" are not meteors according to a witness, which is no one else than Dr. Lincoln La Paz. Dr. La Paz is at that time the Director of the Institue of Meteorites and Head of the Department of Mathematics and Astronomy at the University of New Mexico. He was Research Mathematician at the New Mexico Proving Grounds under an OSRD appointment in 1943 and 1944, and Technical Director of the Operations Analysis Section, Headquarters, second Air Force, 1944-45. Since 1948, Dr. La Paz has served on a voluntary basis as consultant for Project Grudge in connection with the green fireball investigations. The above descriptions of Dr. La Paz qualification and implication is a word by word copy of the second Grudge document I have published in this site. In few words, Dr. La Paz was the worldwide specialist of meteors. After his own sighting, he started a full scale scientific investigation of the phenomenon for the Air Force, and concluded that the green fireballs are artificial flying devices controlled by an intelligence not from our planet.

Fifth, it mentions the famous Los Alamos conference on the green fireball. The participants and conclusions are in the next Project Grudge related document I published in my site.

Sixth, it indicates that the whole matter has something to to with the protection of vital installations.

THE TEXT:

Office Memorandum - UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT

TO: DIRECTOR, FBI FROM: SAC. SAN ANTONIO SUBJECT: PROTECTION OF VITAL INSTALLATOPNS BUREAU FILE 65-58300
Date: March 22, 1949 CONFIDENTIAL
Re San Antonio letter to the director dated January 31, 1949, which outlined
discussion had at recent weekly Intelligence Conference of G-2, OWI, OSI and
FBI in the Fourth Army Area concerning "Unidentified Aircraft" or "Unidentified
Aerial Phenomena" otherwise known as "flying discs", "Flying saucers" and "balls
of fire". It is repeated that this matter is considered secret by Intelligence
Officers of both the Army and the Air Force.
G-2, 4th army has now advised that the above matter is now termed "Unconvention-
tional Aircraft" and investigations concerning such matters have been given
the name "Project Grudge".

G-2, 4th army, advised on February 16, 1949, a conference was held at Los
Alamos, New Mexico, to consider the so-called "Green fire ball phenomena"
which began about December 5, 1948. It was brought out this question has been
classified "secret" and that investigation is now the primary responsibility
of the U.S. Air Force, Air Material Command, T-2.
Dr. LINCOLN LA PAZ of the University of New Mexico, discussed one siting [sic] which
he himself had made which was termed the "Starvation peak incident" and des-
cribed the following characteristics which indicated that the phenomenon
could not be classified as a normal meteorite fall.

There was an initial bright light (no period of intensity increase)
and constant intensity during the duration of the phenomenon.

Yellow green color about 5200 Angstroms.

Essentially horizontal path.

Trajectory traversed at constant angular velocity.

Duration about two seconds.

No accompanying noise.

JEJ:md 2 cc: El Paso (100-4562) 2 cc: Dallas " " , Houston

THE SCAN OF THE ORIGINAL DOCUMENT:

THE REFERENCE:

The original of this document is at the US National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in Washington DC, USA. Refer to the NARA web site on www.nara.gov for visiting the US National Archives.

DISCUSSION: WHAT DO WE LEARN FROM THIS DOCUMENT:

Some UFO debunkers claim that if UFOs were real, there would be military documents indicating it. This is one of the many military documents indicating that UFOs are real.

Some UFO debunkers indicate that witnesses are uneducated and are unable to differentiate a meteor and an unidentified flying object which would not be a meteor. This document indicate that one of the "green fireball" sightings was witnessed by a scientist which by coincidence was the world's expert on meteors.

Some UFO debunkers claim that the US government did not hide information about UFOs. This document indicates that in 1950, UFOs were classified secret by the US military.

Some UFO debunkers produce US military press releases indicating that UFOs are only trivial phenomenon ranging from hoaxes, misinterpretations of natural phenomenon, confusion and mass hysteria. I produce here a US military document indicating that for the Strategic Air Command, the "green fireball" phenomenon belongs to the category "unidentified aircraft."

Some UFO debunkers say that, expect the Condon report, there never was a scientific study of the UFO phenomenon because scientists allegedly know that UFOs do not exist. This document indicates that there was a scientific convention at Los Alamos on February 16, 1949, to conclude about the "green fireball" phenomenon. Its conclusions are also available on my site.

The problem was not confined to a small service of the Army, but by almost all possible services and divisions, including the Strategic Air Command, the Air Material Command, the U.S Air Force as a whole, T2, G-2, OSI, OWI, and the FBI, before the responibilities of the matter was concentrated into the hands of the U.S. Air Force.

The military was concerned that the phenomenon of unidentified flying objects were a threat to the protection vital installations.

This page was last updated on March 24, 2002