In January 1953 the CIA convened a secret Scientific Advisory Panel on UFOs. Its public conclusion was that no national security threat existed. Its classified recommendation was a systematic debunking campaign using mass media, television, and civilian organisations to reduce public interest. This recommendation shaped US government UFO policy for decades. The full Robertson Panel report is now public.
NASA commissioned a UAP Independent Study on June 9, 2022. The study team held a public meeting May 31, 2023 and published its final report September 14, 2023. The commission was not investigating whether UAP were alien craft — it was investigating how to collect scientific data that could eventually answer that question. The distinction matters.
NASA’s UAP Independent Study was given a formal Statement of Task containing eight specific questions. None of them ask “what are UAP.” Instead, they ask how to build the data infrastructure to eventually answer that question. Reading the 8 questions carefully reveals exactly what NASA knew — and what it acknowledged it didn’t know — as of 2022.
The CIA’s FOIA Electronic Reading Room at cia.gov/readingroom/collection/ufos-fact-or-fiction holds nearly 1,000 declassified intelligence documents on UFOs dating from the late 1940s through the 1990s. The collection includes the full Robertson Panel report, internal CIA memos on NICAP, SAC nuclear base UAP incidents, and documents showing CIA involvement in public perception management of the UFO issue.
The Vatican holds the world’s largest collection of pre-modern celestial observation records. Its Observatory has operated since 1582. Its astronomers have been publicly discussing extraterrestrial life theology since 1995. Its Archive holds 75+ nunciature records from every part of the globe since the 16th century. Pope Leo XIV is the current pope. Here is why this institution matters to the UAP investigation.
The Archivio Apostolico Vaticano — Vatican Apostolic Archive — holds over 600 fonds covering 500+ years of Holy See administrative, diplomatic, and private records. These include the full archives of every major Vatican institution since the 16th century, 75+ papal diplomatic missions worldwide, aristocratic family archives, and the complete records of Vatican I and Vatican II. Hours: Mon–Tue 08:00–16:15, Wed–Fri 08:00–12:45.
The Vatican Observatory — one of the oldest active astronomical observatories in the world, with roots to 1582 — has produced two significant public statements on extraterrestrial life. Fr. Christopher Corbally’s 1995 Nash Lecture “Would You Baptize an Alien?” and an 8-minute video with Br. Guy Consolmagno and Fr. Corbally contain the quote: “Some theologians don’t make God big enough.” Both are publicly available.
The Vatican Apostolic Library has identified over 550 manuscripts in its collection containing palimpsests — parchment folios where original text was erased and written over. The Vatican Palimpsests project is digitally recovering these erased texts across 13 languages from the 4th century onward. Some of the earliest celestial observation records in Western history may be among them.
DigiVatLib’s search index covers 281,559 items from the Vatican Apostolic Library. A search for “astronomia” returns 36,674 results. Searches for “portenti” (portents), “prodigio” (marvels), and “visione” (visions) all return results across the manuscript collections. Here is how researchers use the free platform to access medieval celestial observation records.
DigiVatLib at digi.vatlib.it provides free access to 281,559 digitised items from the Vatican Apostolic Library including 275,563 manuscripts, incunabula, archival materials, visual items, coins and medals. It uses the International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF), making content compatible with any IIIF-compliant viewer. A search for “astronomia” returns 36,674 results.
On June 9, 2022, NASA announced it was commissioning an independent UAP study team. The team’s Statement of Task contained 8 specific questions covering data collection, analysis techniques, airspace reporting, physical constraints, and how NASA can advance scientific understanding. The Final Report was published September 14, 2023. Page last updated February 23, 2026.
NASA’s UAP Independent Study Team published its Final Report on September 14, 2023. The report contained a series of recommendations for how NASA could advance scientific understanding of UAP. A media briefing and YouTube recording are available. The report is freely downloadable. NASA’s UAP page was last updated February 23, 2026, confirming the programme remains active.
NASA’s UAP page at science.nasa.gov/uap/ was last updated February 23, 2026 — four months before the PURSUE programme launched. The page is maintained under NASA Science and administered by Daniel A. Evans. The Independent Study’s recommendations around standardised UAP data collection feed directly into PURSUE’s civilian agency mandate. Here is the current state.
In 1952, H. Marshall Chadwell — the CIA’s Assistant Director of Scientific Intelligence — wrote directly to Director of Central Intelligence Walter Bedell Smith arguing that the flying saucer situation required immediate action. The memo is in the CIA’s FOIA collection. It is one of the most significant documents in the UAP intelligence record: the CIA’s own senior scientist telling its director that the phenomenon was real enough to demand DCI-level attention.
The CIA maintains a dedicated UFO/UAP FOIA collection at cia.gov/readingroom/collection/ufos-fact-or-fiction. It contains approximately 1,000 declassified documents spanning 1947–1996. The holdings include the full Robertson Panel 1953 proceedings, CIA assessments of the 1952 Washington DC flyovers, the H. Marshall Chadwell memo to DCI Bedell Smith, and internal CIA analysis of Soviet UAP exploitation potential.
In January 1953 the CIA convened a five-day scientific panel to review US UFO evidence. The Robertson Panel, named after physicist H.P. Robertson, concluded that UAP reports posed no direct threat but that the public reporting phenomenon was a national security liability. Its recommendation: systematic debunking. That recommendation became US policy for the next two decades.
SEFAA’s case numbering has reached the 2200s. April 2026 alone produced 10 individual case resolution PDFs. Cases from 2021 are still being resolved and published alongside 2026 cases. The reporting form at servicios.dgac.gob.cl requires unmodified original files. Chile manages more airspace than any European country and treats UAP investigation as a flight safety function.
CRIDOVNI has operated under the Uruguayan Air Force since 1979. In 47 years it has processed thousands of UAP reports, documented notable cases including the 1986 Colonia incident, and published investigation findings publicly. Colonel Ariel Sánchez gave international presentations on CRIDOVNI’s work. Uruguay’s programme predates AARO by 43 years and most European equivalents.
Brazil’s Arquivo Nacional holds digitised military UAP records from the Brazilian Air Force’s declassification rounds of 2009, 2010 and 2013. The SIAN database at sian.an.gov.br provides searchable access for Brazilian and foreign researchers. The physical archive is in Rio de Janeiro. Here is how to access it.
In 1977 the Brazilian Air Force investigated mass UAP encounters in Colares, Para state. Civilians reported beams from unknown craft causing burns, anaemia, and puncture wounds. Captain Hollanda’s team spent months there. The files were classified. Hollanda broke his silence in 1997 before dying. Brazil’s Arquivo Nacional now holds the records.
