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FBI opens online vault, revealing UFO, Roswell files
Real-life 'X-Files' reveal policy of destroying documents related to UFO investigations because they would have taken up too much filing space.
Tue, Apr 12 2011 at 10:21 AM
Photo: Markus Ram/Flickr
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigated hundreds of UFO sightings in the 1940s and '50s, but the agency had a policy of destroying investigation records because they took up too much space.
Some of the papers related to these UFO sightings went online this weekend through the FBI's newly revamped electronic reading room, dubbed The Vault. Previously known as the FBI Records/Freedom of Information and Privacy Act website, the site contains more than 2,000 FBI documents that were scanned from the original paper files. Many of these documents are available to the public for the first time.
One section of the Vault is reserved for documents related to UFO sightings. Among the files, reports the Guardian, is a 1949 memo to FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover describes the policy of the Bureau's San Antonio office to destroy files related to UFO investigations because they contained "nothing of interest to the FBI" and were too plentiful to store. "It is pointed out that the filing of these would result in the rapid accumulation of very bulky files," the unsigned memo says.
A memo from 1950 details an investigation of three "flying saucers" that a witness claimed crash-landed in New Mexico, an incident unrelated to the 1947 event in Roswell, N.M., that spawned conspiracy theories about an alien crash. In the 1950 memo, special agent Guy Hottel repeats an Air Force investigator's report that three flying saucers crashed and were recovered, along with the bodies of nine alien crew members. According to the memo, each ship "was occupied by three bodies of human shape but only three feet tall, dressed in metallic cloth of a very fine texture. Each body was bandaged in a manner similar to the blackout suits used by speed flyers and test pilots."
The investigation ended there, and the memo concludes with the statement "No further evaluation was attempted." The informant's name is redacted in the file.
But the memo doesn't tell the whole story. According to the International Business Times, the "Hottel memo," which was never classified, repeats a hoax first reported in a Kansas City newspaper. The two con men responsible were later convicted of fraud.
But speaking of Roswell, another document makes it clear that the 1947 crash was, indeed, a weather balloon, although its exact origin remains uncertain. ABC News cites a 1947 memo with the word "Roswell" handwritten on the top of the page detailing the discovery of a "flying disc" near the New Mexico town. "The disc is hexagonal in shape and was suspended from a balloon by cable. The object found resembles a high-altitude weather balloon with a radar reflector."
The new version of the Vault has been heavily enhanced for online searching and viewing of documents on the Web. It also contains documents related to mobster Al Capone, actress Marilyn Monroe, rapper Notorious B.I.G. and the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers. The FBI says additional documents will be added every month.
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Guys, aliens are real. Haven't any of you seen E.T.?
Dear vault
I do not know who put you on my ps and I like to terminate it
thanking you
johanna
with the vastness of the universe how can people be so nieve to think humans are the only intelligent life. Just pray that when the visitations are open that the visitors are not violent.
I do believe in UFOs, however, I agree with the destroying of documents. Until the government comes foward and admits they know something, what's the point in keeping documentation? And I laugh at all the ignorance. Do some actual research into the subject before commenting. On a side point, no one can deny ufos exist. Its just a question of whether or not they're alien. Could be man-made technology kept secret. Still, to say they don't exist at all, is ignorant, and laughable.
i live in the valley last summer around 1am ,we were in the pool all the sudden there was a hovering round object in the sky!! i yelled to my kids the younger one was wow!! i by the time my husband ran out to the back yard it was gone!!
Any of you non believing big mouths need to shut your mouths and open your eyes..take a look on youtube...Ufo sightings and check out the mainstream news coverage from Jerusalem, China and Norway...this is no Photoshop magic boys! Something is going on.
please tell me, why only Americans see UFO´s?
i'm from the Netherlands, and there has never been an sighting over here, or in one of our neighboring country's, so please tell me, why do only americans see such imaginations? sorry for my bad english, well it not my first languige soo...
Lots of UFOs ha e been reported from Belgium and other European countries.
I do read a lot of articles that UFO been seen in China , Japen, England, etc...pls check it around u wl see the difference. Also ur English is pretty good , it is very clear that ur English can convey ur idea very well.
You must be very young or never followed the UFO field. There have been many sightings in Europe including major events in Belgium and France. Check UFOs: Myths Conspiracies and Realities for details.
Aliens don't like cold weather....just kidding ! There a many foriegn countries that have seen UFO's....Keep watching the stars, usually late in the evening. You may get lucky ! And by the way, your english is very good.....
While most people believe in UFOs (rightly so) few have a deep seated interest. Researchers fail to understand the government and how it works. Read UFOs: Myths, Conspiracies and Realities for a lesson.
It was not just the FBI who destroyed documents. Every agency was required to do so. Had that not happened, Washington would have sunk further into the swamt its built on.
...But that doesn't mean aliens are real. I've seen objects in the sky before that I couldn't identify. But I certainly didn't see aliens, that would be preposterous.
I can see why they don't visit you....it's your loss. Someday you may be lucky enough to have the experience.
The pods have been an astounding success
Is CHER an Alien or a Vampire?
This is a serious subject.Read "Witness To Roswell" if you realyy want the truth.
its all real and i can prove it. trust me!!!!!!!
oh please people! i think we all know these are time machines that once crashed are infinately stuck in the present/past & any technology weve gleaned from them will certainly lead to the same fate for our "pilots" once they take their little time trip. its just a game of interdimesional hopscotch. wherever we crash the game starts over with a new species
The article mentions papers that indicate that there are flying saucers and then presents their opinion as fact that flying saucers do not exist.
you guys are way tooooooooo funnyyy?
actually believe in aliens?? hahaha
find me 1 article that has alien sightings in them that is prior to the invention of flying meaning before 1900
I live in Arizona and I see Aliens all the time, I mean don't you see the news. Sheriff Joe "The Toughest Sheriff in America" will tell you they exist...
At issue are the facts not speculation about aliens. There have been mentions of flying disks through out history. The History Channel has a series called “Ancient Aliens” which talks about sightings of flying saucers found in the bible.
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