Chronology
1944–2025 · 212 recordsRecords by occurrence date. The distribution measures when records were created and retained, not sighting frequency. The mid-period minimum coincides with the interval between the closure of Project Blue Book (1969) and the establishment of AARO (2022), during which no standing collection program existed.
USAF investigation era
Sign · Grudge · Blue Book · Eyewitness & visual reports.
No standing public program
≈40-year record gap · Sparse, ad-hoc.
Modern disclosure era
AATIP · UAPTF · AARO · Military infrared / sensor data (Mideast theaters).
Declassification interval
199 dated recordsInterval between incident date and public release, by occurrence decade: 1940s records, ~78 years; 2020s records, ~3.5.
18 records carry an explicit “Declassified on” stamp; the rest are measured to this 2026 release — an accurate floor, since they are first surfacing now.
The lags pile up near 70–80 years (the mid-century records) with a second cluster near zero (the modern releases) — the same bimodal split as the corpus.Read it carefully: for all but 18 records the lag is measured to this single 2024–25 release, so it largely reflects how old the event is plus the fact that everything surfaced in one recent disclosure — not a per-case decision to keep each file secret for exactly that long. Only the 18with an explicit “Declassified on” stamp isolate a true case-by-case withholding time.
- 1948Project Sign — First formal USAF UFO investigation
- 1952Project Blue Book — USAF's long-running investigation begins
- 1968Condon Report — Commissioned study; recommended ending inquiry
- 1969Blue Book closed — No standing public program for ~40 years
- 2017NYT / AATIP revealed — Modern disclosure era begins
- 2020UAP Task Force — DoD stands up UAPTF
- 2022AARO established — All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office
- 2026PURSUE release — This declassified document tranche
- Jul 31, 1947Maury Island 'flying disc' fragments and B-25 crash — Maury Island, Washington, July 1947 (HOAX)FBI
- Oct 13, 1958FBI policy memorandum on unidentified flying objects — October 1958FBI
- Jul 18, 1963Policy memo: 'Thoughts on the Space Alien Race Question' — July 18, 1963Other
- ~Dec 1972Apollo 17 crew reports cosmic-ray light flashes in cabin — translunar and transearth coastNASA
- May 29, 1986Pajarito Astronomers club meeting — Los Alamos scientist to present on UFO scientific concernDept. of Energy
- Jan 28, 1994Air France flight AF 3532 encounters large shapeshifting object — Coulommiers, FranceOther
- ~Oct 28, 2001UFO reference in Georgian airspace dispute — Moscow diplomatic cableDept. of State
- Nov 18, 2016Possible low-flying missile/UAP at ~500 KTS observed by P-8A — 55 NM NW of Latakia, SyriaDept. of Defense
- Oct 17, 2025USCENTCOM batch release cover — MDR 25-0094 through 25-0099, Oct 2025Dept. of Defense