📄source artifactDepartment of War

DOW-UAP-D097, Project Sign Progress Report, 1948

WAR.gov / Department of War PURSUE Release 04

This file contains an initial report from the Air Materiel Command regarding Project Sign.

Type
source artifact
Agency
Department of War
Pages
1
Released
July 10, 2026

Document Highlights

Note: Highlights are derived from OCR-recognized document passages and file metadata. Please verify important claims against the original scan.

Short overview

This initial Air Materiel Command report documents Project Sign, the 1948–1949 U.S. Air Force program established to investigate the nature and origin of unidentified flying objects. It compiles 100 sightings from 1947–1948 and includes an aviation-periodical article titled “The Biology of the Flying Saucer.”

Why this is interesting

The report provides an early window into systematic military collection: descriptions include flight paths, lights, colors, speeds, and other reported characteristics. Its appended article also shows how contemporary aviation writing tried to relate saucer-shaped reports to low-aspect-ratio aircraft.

Selected passages

  • “This is an initial report on unidentified flying objects”
  • “Present files on Project ‘SIGN’ represent a consolidation of reports”
  • “The Biology of the Flying Saucer”

Background

This file contains an initial report from the Air Materiel Command regarding Project Sign. Project Sign was a 1948-1949 U.S. Air Force program to investigate the nature and origin of unidentified flying objects (UFO). The report details 100 UFO sightings from 1947-1948. The file also contains an article excerpted from “The Aeroplane,” an aviation-focused periodical magazine published between 1911 and 1968, titled “The Biology of the Flying Saucer.”

DOW-UAP-D097, Project Sign Progress Report, 1948 | UAP Timeline