NARA’s UAP moving images and sound recordings span nine record groups and collections. Several are among the most historically significant UAP-related recordings in the US government record. Some are available online; others require an onsite visit to the Moving Image and Sound Research Room at the National Archives at College Park, Maryland.
Record Group 111: The Samford Press Conference
RG 111 (Records of the Office of the Chief Signal Officer) contains the film of Major General John A. Samford’s statement on UFOs, catalog ID 25738. This is the July 29, 1952 Air Force press conference — the largest since World War II — called in direct response to the Washington DC UFO overflights of July 19-20 and July 26-27, 1952. Multiple independent radars tracked the objects simultaneously. Interceptors were scrambled twice. Samford’s public statement offered temperature inversions as the explanation. Radar operators who were there rejected that explanation. The film of that press conference is in the National Archives.
Record Group 263: The CIA’s UAP Films
RG 263 (Records of the Central Intelligence Agency) contains moving images related to UAP. The CIA — the organisation that convened the Robertson Panel, recommended the mass media debunking programme, and monitored civilian UAP research groups — has produced films in its institutional record that NARA now holds. What those films contain is available through the catalog. Some may require onsite viewing.
Record Group 330: Office of the Secretary of Defense
RG 330 (Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense) contains UAP-related moving images. The OSD record is the office through which UAP policy was coordinated at the highest civilian level. Films in this collection represent the Secretary of Defense’s institutional engagement with the UAP question.
How to Access
All items are described at archives.gov/research/topics/uaps/moving-images-and-sound. Items with National Archives Identifiers are searchable at catalog.archives.gov. Items not available online require appointment at College Park, Maryland. Contact: Moving Image and Sound Research Room, National Archives at College Park. Note from NARA: “Some of these materials are not available online due to donor, copyright, or other potential intellectual property rights.”
Source: archives.gov/research/topics/uaps/moving-images-and-sound. NARA Record Groups 111, 255, 263, 306, 330, 341, 342, 517. Collections WWDC, PARA, UN.