According to Captain Edward J. Ruppelt, by
the end of 1951, several high-ranking, very
influential USAF generals were so dissatisfied
with the state of Air Force UFO investigations
that they dismantled Project Grudge and replaced
it with Project Blue Book in early 1952. One of
these men was Gen. Charles P. Cabell. Another
important change came when General William
Garland joined Cabell's staff; Garland thought
the UFO question deserved serious scrutiny
because he had witnessed a UFO.
The new name, Project Blue Book, was selected to
refer to the blue booklets used for testing at
some colleges and universities. The name was
inspired, said Ruppelt, by the close attention
that high-ranking officers were giving the new
project; it felt as if the study of UFOs was as
important as a college final exam. Blue Book was
also upgraded in status from Project Grudge,
with the creation of the Aerial Phenomenon
Branch.
Ruppelt was the first head of the project. He
was an experienced airman, having been decorated
for his efforts with the Army Air Corps during
World War II, and having afterwards earned an
aeronautics degree. He officially coined the
term "Unidentified Flying Object", to replace
the many terms ("flying saucer" "flying disk"
and so on) the military had previously used;
Ruppelt thought that "unidentified flying
object" was a more neutral and accurate term.
Ruppelt resigned from the Air Force some years
later, and wrote the book The Report on
Unidentified Flying Objects, which described the
study of UFOs by United States Air Force from
1947 to 1955. Swords writes that "Ruppelt would
lead the last genuine effort to analyze UFOs".
Ruppelt implemented a number of changes: He
streamlined the manner in which UFOs were
reported to (and by) military officials, partly
in hopes of alleviating the stigma and ridicule
associated with UFO witnesses. Ruppelt also
ordered the development of a standard
questionnaire for UFO witnesses, hoping to
uncover data which could be subject to
statistical analysis. He commissioned the
Battelle Memorial Institute to create the
questionnaire and computerize the data. Using
case reports and the computerized data, Battelle
then did a massive scientific and statistical
study of all Air Force UFO cases, completed in
1954 and known as "Project Blue Book Special
Report No. 14".
Knowing that factionalism had harmed the
progress of Project Sign, Ruppelt did his best
to avoid the kinds of open-ended speculation
that had led to Sign’s personnel being split
among advocates and critics of the
extraterrestrial hypothesis. As Michael Hall
writes, "Ruppelt not only took the job seriously
but expected his staff to do so as well. If
anyone under him either became too skeptical or
too convinced of one particular theory, they
soon found themselves off the project." In his
book, Ruppelt reported that he fired three
personnel very early in the project because they
were either "too pro" or "too con" one hypotheis
or another. Ruppelt sought the advice of many
scientists and experts, and issued regular press
releases (along with classified monthly reports
for military intelligence).
Each U.S. Air Force Base had a Blue Book officer
to collect UFO reports and forward them to
Ruppelt. During most of Ruppelt's tenure, he and
his team were authorized to interview any and
all military personnel who witnessed UFOs, and
were not required to follow the chain of
command. This unprecedented authority underlined
the seriousness of Blue Book's investigation.
Under Ruppelt's direction, Blue Book
investigated a number of well-known UFO cases,
including the so-called Lubbock Lights, and a
widely publicized 1952 radar/visual case over
Washington D.C.. According to Jacques Vallee,
Ruppelt started the trend, largely followed by
later Blue Book investigations, of not giving
serious consideration to numerous reports of UFO
landings and/or interaction with purported UFO
occupants.
Astronomer Dr. J. Allen Hynek was the scientific
consultant of the project, as he had been with
Projects Sign and Grudge. He worked for the
project up to its termination and initially
created the categorization which has been
extended and is known today as Close encounters.
He was a pronounced skeptic when he started, but
said that his feelings changed to a more
wavering skepticism during the research, after
encountering a few UFO reports he thought were
unexplainable.
Ruppelt left Blue Book in February 1953 for a
temporary reassignment. He returned a few months
later to find his staff reduced from more than
ten, to two subordinates. Frustrated, Ruppelt
suggested that an Air Defense Command unit (the
4602nd Air Intelligence Service Squadron) be
charged with UFO investigations.
Trent UFO Photos
- McMinnville, Oregon - May 11, 1950
