Joint U.S.-Canadian Aviation Projects and UFO Sighting Reports, 1954-1955
A mid-1950s working file from the height of the flying saucer era, this record captures U.S. and Canadian officials actively wrestling with a problem that cut both ways: their own experimental circular aircraft (the Avro Project Y2) looked enough like a UFO to confuse observers, while simultaneously raising the question of whether some Soviet "UFOs" might be advanced VTOL platforms in disguise. The centerpiece incident — a KC-97 encounter near Newfoundland in July 1955 — remains unexplained by the reviewing committee, which couldn't account for the simultaneous radar returns and visual sightings from the aircrew. Rounding out the file are practical efforts to sharpen radar performance using meteor-entry data and to standardize cross-border reporting through the CIRVIS program, painting a picture of institutions trying to build better tools for a phenomenon they couldn't yet categorize.
This file contains reports, memoranda, and correspondence concerning various then-developmental vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft. The file includes assessments of the experimental potential of the “Avro Project Y2,” a joint U.S.-Canadian near-circular VTOL aircraft that is similar in appearance to contemporary popular descriptions of unidentified flying objects (UFO). A 1954 memorandum opines that VTOL aircraft with a circular planform may be mistaken for UFOs to observers unfamiliar with such technologies. It also recommends that UFO reports in the vicinity of Soviet military operations or assets be re-examined to assess whether they may be attributable to previously unknown advanced VTOL aircraft of foreign design.
The file also contains correspondence relating to a UFO incident involving a U.S. Air Force (USAF) KC-97 flying near Newfoundland, Canada in July 1955. A USAF committee found that the characteristics described in the report were inconsistent with those of known Soviet, American, or Canadian military systems. The committee was also “unable to explain the simultaneous ground radar returns and aircrew visual sightings.”
It also contains correspondence relating to the potential value of data from incidental radar collection of meteors entering the atmosphere. USAF Air Research and Development Command recommended using that data to improve the performance of the AN/FPS-17 radar system. Finally, the file contains correspondence indicating support for the Communications Instructions for Reporting Vital Intelligence Sightings (CIRVIS) program, a joint U.S.-Canadian civil-military program to standardize reporting methods for unusual or unidentified airborne and maritime hazards and threats.