What does FBI's 21-Year UAP Case File, Section 5 reveal?

File cover identifies the volume as Section 5 of FBI HQ case 62-HQ-83894, serials 186-245, declassified under FOIPA #993087 with declassification authority from the FBI Automatic Declassification Guide issued May 24, 2007. On July 9 1949 D. M. Ladd memo'd the Director that Ernest Cuneo had relayed a letter Walter Winchell received from Peter Cameron Jones…

Which agency produced FBI's 21-Year UAP Case File, Section 5?

FBI's 21-Year UAP Case File, Section 5 is a primary-source record from FBI. Its original classification was UNCLASSIFIED (originally CONFIDENTIAL for ONI report on p. 26).

When is FBI's 21-Year UAP Case File, Section 5 dated?

FBI's 21-Year UAP Case File, Section 5 is dated 1949-07.

What programs and topics appear in FBI's 21-Year UAP Case File, Section 5?

FBI's 21-Year UAP Case File, Section 5 references FBI 62-HQ-83894, ONI N.N.I. 16-1943, FOIPA #993087, flying disc, flying saucer and Los Angeles.

What does FBI's 21-Year UAP Case File, Section 5 say, in its own words?

"I thought you might wish to consider the possibility that the original letter in this matter may have been a prank." (source p. 9).

← Files

DISCLOSURE / FILE

FBI's 21-Year UAP Case File, Section 5

65_HS1-834228961_62-HQ-83894_Section_5

FBI Section 5 of case file 62-HQ-83894 (serials 186-245) collects Bureau correspondence, telephone records, and inter-agency reports on flying disc and flying saucer sightings circulating between mid-1947 and the late 1940s.

Brief

This is Section 5 of the FBI's central headquarters flying-disc file, 62-HQ-83894, covering serials 186 through 245. The opening serials document a July 1949 inquiry that ran from Walter Winchell, through intermediary Ernest Cuneo, to D. M. Ladd and J. Edgar Hoover concerning Peter Camerlon Jones of 164 West 37th Street, Los Angeles, who claimed an August 1947 hiking encounter with a silver, top-shaped object in the mountains outside Los Angeles. Los Angeles SAC R. B. Hood reported on July 18 1949 that 'efforts to identify or locate Jones negative,' and Hoover's office concluded the original letter 'may have been a prank.' The section also includes a 23 June 1949 Office of Naval Intelligence report (N.N.I. 16-1943) from DIO-11ND San Diego transmitting Navy reserve pilot LTJG Joseph C. Shall's account of six or seven elongated-oval flying discs over southern Oregon on 27 May 1949.

Metadata

Agency: FBI
Release: 5/8/26
Type: PDF • .pdf
Length: 209 pages
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED (originally CONFIDENTIAL for ONI report on p. 26)
Programs: FBI 62-HQ-83894, ONI N.N.I. 16-1943, FOIPA #993087
Tags: flying disc, flying saucer, 1947, 1949, Los Angeles, southern Oregon, top-shaped object, elongated oval, FBI case 62-HQ-83894, Walter Winchell, ONI, Bruce Maccabee FOIA

Key points

File cover identifies the volume as Section 5 of FBI HQ case 62-HQ-83894, serials 186-245, declassified under FOIPA #993087 with declassification authority from the FBI Automatic Declassification Guide issued May 24, 2007.p.1
On July 9 1949 D. M. Ladd memo'd the Director that Ernest Cuneo had relayed a letter Walter Winchell received from Peter Cameron Jones of 164 West 37th Street, Los Angeles, describing an August 1947 sighting of a silver, top-shaped object the size of a county-fair balloon in the mountains outside Los Angeles.p.21
Jones's letter raised whether the object's occupants 'had become curious as to the reaction caused by the explosion of the atomic bomb' and whether they 'might have solved the theory of negative gravity.'p.21
Hoover sent an Urgent teletype to the Los Angeles SAC on July 12 1949 directing a discreet background check on Jones and an interview about the sighting.p.17
Los Angeles SAC R. B. Hood reported on July 13 1949 that the present owner of 164 West 37th Street for the prior 18 months, and the prior manager for six years, did not know Peter Camerlon Jones, and other efforts to locate him were not productive.p.15
A July 18 1949 Los Angeles teletype to the Director confirmed 'efforts to identify or locate Jones negative.'p.24
Ladd's July 12 1949 memo to Hoover noted Cuneo told him, regarding the Air Force handling of flying saucers, 'To hell with the Air Force. He just didn't want to release the information if it would affect the Bureau.'p.19
On July 21 1949 the Bureau wrote Cuneo at 40 Wall Street, New York, suggesting 'the possibility that the original letter in this matter may have been a prank.'p.9

Verbatim

I thought you might wish to consider the possibility that the original letter in this matter may have been a prank.
p.9
SUBJECT ADDRESSED A LETTER TO WALTER WINCHELL RELATING THAT IN AUGUST, NINETEEN FORTYSEVEN, HE WAS HIKING IN THE MOUNTAINS OUT OF LA AND HE OBSERVED ABOUT ONE HALF BLOCK AWAY FROM HIM A LARGE SILVER METAL OBJECT SHAPED LIKE A CHILD'S TOP ABOUT THE SIZE OF A BALLOON.
p.17
To hell with the Air Force. He just didn't want to release the information if it would affect the Bureau
p.19
PETER CAMERLON JONES, INFO. CONCERNING. REURTEL JULY EIGHTEEN. EFFORTS TO IDENTIFY OR LOCATE JONES NEGATIVE.
p.24
While flying north in a private plane source, who is believed to be reliable, saw 6 or 7 "flying discs" in southern Oregon 27 May 1949. The discs are described as elongated ovals, perhaps 20' in length; they flew in a steady file formation at between 200 to 250 MPH; they appeared to be made of unpainted metal; no smoke or exhaust trails were observed.
p.26
He is believed to be conservative, sincere, absolutely reliable, and very competent.

Most interesting

The Jones inquiry travelled the full Bureau hierarchy in days: columnist Walter Winchell to attorney Ernest Cuneo, Cuneo to Assistant Director D. M. Ladd, Ladd to Director Hoover, Hoover to the Los Angeles SAC, all over a single 1947 hiking-trail sighting letter.
Cuneo's recorded remark 'To hell with the Air Force' captures how Bureau outsiders treated USAF jurisdiction over flying saucers in 1949, even as Hoover's office formally deferred technical questions to the Air Corps.
The Jones letter, as Ladd summarized it, anticipated language now common in UAP discussion: that the occupants might have 'solved the theory of negative gravity,' and that the visit might trace to curiosity about the atomic bomb.
The Los Angeles SAC's negative locate report came back inside five days of Hoover's Urgent teletype, the Bureau closing the lead by July 21 1949 with a letter suggesting it had been a prank.
The Office of Naval Intelligence report on LTJG Joseph C. Shall's 27 May 1949 southern Oregon sighting was declassified by NIS letter dated 9/26/77 following a request from Bruce S. Maccabee, whose name and the date 10/3/77 appear handwritten on the document.
ONI rated Shall's account B-3 (usually reliable source, possibly true information) and devoted most of the report's first page to building his credibility: Naval Aviator's Certificate #C-17945, over 5,000 flight hours, B.S. and M.A. from USC, vice-president of Royal Petroleum Company of California.

Cross-references

PDFFBI's 21-Year UAP Case File, Section 4FBI
PDFFBI's 21-Year UAP Case File, Section 1FBI
PDFFBI's 21-Year UAP Case File, Section 2FBI
PDFFBI's 21-Year UAP Case File, Section 3FBI
PDFFBI's 21-Year UAP Case File, Section 9FBI

Common questions

What is FBI's 21-Year UAP Case File, Section 5?: FBI Section 5 of case file 62-HQ-83894 (serials 186-245) collects Bureau correspondence, telephone records, and inter-agency reports on flying disc and flying saucer sightings circulating between mid-1947 and the late 1940s.
What does FBI's 21-Year UAP Case File, Section 5 reveal?: File cover identifies the volume as Section 5 of FBI HQ case 62-HQ-83894, serials 186-245, declassified under FOIPA #993087 with declassification authority from the FBI Automatic Declassification Guide issued May 24, 2007. On July 9 1949 D. M. Ladd memo'd the Director that Ernest Cuneo had relayed a letter Walter Winchell received from Peter Cameron Jones…
Which agency produced FBI's 21-Year UAP Case File, Section 5?: FBI's 21-Year UAP Case File, Section 5 is a primary-source record from FBI. Its original classification was UNCLASSIFIED (originally CONFIDENTIAL for ONI report on p. 26).
When is FBI's 21-Year UAP Case File, Section 5 dated?: FBI's 21-Year UAP Case File, Section 5 is dated 1949-07.
What programs and topics appear in FBI's 21-Year UAP Case File, Section 5?: FBI's 21-Year UAP Case File, Section 5 references FBI 62-HQ-83894, ONI N.N.I. 16-1943, FOIPA #993087, flying disc, flying saucer and Los Angeles.
What does FBI's 21-Year UAP Case File, Section 5 say, in its own words?: "I thought you might wish to consider the possibility that the original letter in this matter may have been a prank." (source p. 9).

SharePost Reddit

loading viewer...

Extracted text · Page 1