The numbers alone tell a story. 52 pages. One case file. Two decades of reports. June 1947 to July 1968. That is the span of the FBI’s 62-HQ-83894 case file, the first section of which was released on May 8, 2026, through the Trump administration’s PURSUE archive by the U.S. Department of War.
The file is not a single document. It is a collection. Investigative records. Eyewitness testimonies. Public reports. The official description lists high-profile incident accounts, photographic evidence from sites like Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and technical proposals regarding potential propulsion systems. It also covers convention programs, researcher accounts, and extensive media coverage from the period.
Oak Ridge is not a random location. During the Cold War, it was a classified city. The site produced enriched uranium for the Manhattan Project. That the FBI kept photographic evidence from that location inside a UFO case file suggests the bureau took the sightings seriously enough to document them in a classified context.
The release comes with a caveat. The file was previously partially posted on the FBI Vault website. That version had more redactions and some pages missing. The PURSUE archive version is less redacted and more complete. The difference matters for researchers who have spent years trying to piece together what the bureau knew and when.
The document itself is labeled as a case file from the FBI’s Central Records Center, with a headquarters designation. Case Number 62-83894. Volume 1. Serial Number 1. The excerpt shows a date stamp of 8/11/1274199. The meaning of that numerical sequence is not explained in the available material. It could be a filing code, a reference number, or something else entirely. Without more context, it remains an open question.
The timing of the release is significant. The PURSUE archive was established under the Trump administration. Its goal is declassification of historical records. This file is one of many being pushed out into public view. The Department of War, not the FBI itself, handled the release. That is an unusual chain of custody for FBI records, but it follows the archive’s mandate.
The 21-year window covered by the file is not arbitrary. June 1947 is the month of the Kenneth Arnold sighting, the event that kicked off the modern UFO era. Arnold reported seeing nine crescent-shaped objects flying near Mount Rainier. The term “flying saucer” was born from that report. The FBI started collecting reports almost immediately. July 1968 is the cutoff. That is two years before the Air Force’s Project Blue Book ended. The bureau’s interest in the subject did not stop in 1968, but this particular file does.
What the file contains exactly is not fully visible from the excerpt. The PDF is 29.0 MB. The PDF viewer is unavailable in the browser. Users must download the file to view it. That is a practical barrier for casual readers, but for serious researchers, it is a necessary step.
The release adds to a growing body of declassified material on government UFO investigations. The CIA, the Air Force, the Navy, and now the FBI have all released records in recent years. Each agency has its own angle. The Air Force focused on national security threats. The Navy focused on pilot safety. The FBI focused on criminal investigations and public reporting. This file shows that the bureau treated UFO reports as a matter of record, not just rumor.
For those who have followed this subject for decades, the file is another piece of a larger puzzle. For those new to the topic, it is a starting point. The bureau’s own description calls the records “investigative.” That word matters. It means agents did work. They interviewed witnesses. They collected evidence. They filed reports. The file is proof of that labor.
