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From: jan@cyberzone.net (Jan Aldrich)
Date: Sat, 11 Jan 1997 09:52:26 -0800
Fwd Date: Sat, 11 Jan 1997 10:47:26 -0500
Subject: Project 1947 - PROJECT SIGN MICROFILMS [Corrected


CORRECTED COPY

(*See Item #2 below.)

I have now looked at three of the four Project Sign microfilm rolls
(Numbers 1, 8, and 9,)  These were produced to be sent to USAF
consultants for their evaluation of UFO cases.  Unlike the Project
Blue Book microfilms which are more or less arranged in chronological
order, the Project Sign microfilms are organized by Incident numbers.
(The incident numbers are not related to Project Blue Book case
numbers.)  There were indeed documents on the Project Sign microfilms
that were not on the Project Blue Book microfilms.  I was able to
locate several "missing cases."  (They were not really missing, more
correctly they were incomplete.)  A few interesting finds:

1.  The Weekly ATC Intelligence Summary carried a section on "Flying
Objects."  The one for 16 July 1947 does not mention Roswell.  The
earlier one should be 9 July 1947.  I doubt very much that it mentions
Roswell either due to reaction time.  We should try to get a complete
set of these intelligence summaries as well as intel summaries for
other commands for this period.

* 2.  As I was looking at the Blue Book and Sign microfilms, a thought
occurred.  The documents in the USAF UFO project are nearly all copies.
There are few original documents.  Now why would the Project Sign not
have the originals?  Most of the documents in later years are
originals.  Who received the Project Sign originals?  Another project?
(Some copies did came from HQ USAF.  Some UFO reports had been sent
only to USAF HQ, Washington.  After Project Sign was created, a request
was made to send these cases in the HQ USAF files to Wright Field.
Cheap copiers did not exit in 1947.  In the HQ USAF Intelligence UFO
files, there was a staff study in about Oct 1947.  The proposal was to
copy all the material that Project Sign did not have and send it to
them.  The staff study was eventually approved.  That would explain
why SOME documents in Project Sign's files are copies.  But not all.)
(In early 1948, HQ USAF directed ATIC make copies of all ufo material
and send it to ONI.  This was probably for the joint study by the USAF
Directorate of Intelligence and the Office of Naval Intelligence on
UFOs which was completed in late 1948 and mis-characterized as "Ghost
of the Estimate.")

**There are some possible explanations for what seems to be the large
amounts of copies on the Project Sign/Blue Book microfilms.  There are
multiple copies of "Project Sign  Check List - UFO."  These are
contained in different Project Sign files (Case files and Summary
files).  The Project Sign microfilms were not of professional quality.
They were apparently produced by Air Force personnel.  The copies of
the Project Sign microfilm I looked at are second generation.  Some of
these documents may appear to be copies.  Ruppelt also complained, that
to review some early case he had to look at poor quality microfilms. I
still have some doubts about the large amount of copies in material from
this era.

3.  The Project Sign microfilm was not sanitized.

4.  One microfilm (Roll #9) has almost a complete file of UFO case
summaries on "Project Sign  Check List - UFO" forms.  This will fill
in most of the "missing case" files on the Project Blue Book
microfilms.  (One other source of "missing case" material might be
CUFOS.  Dr. Hynek had large amounts Project Sign/Grudge/Blue Book
material in his files.  (Some of it might be copies from the Project
Sign microfilm rolls as I can see defects on the microfilm that are
similar to some of Dr. Hynek's copies.

It will be interesting to see what the recently released Project
Sign/Project Grudge files from the St. Louis record center, the
Project Blue Book files, and these Project Sign microfilms together
tell us about the early days of Air Force early UFO investigations.
The Project Sign microfilm (Rolls #1, 7, 8 and 9), Ruppelt's catchall
letter file ("Max File"--two rolls of letters to the USAF) and the
USAF 1952 newspaper clipping collection (30 rolls of microfilm)
presented to Dr. Herbert Stentz on his visit to Project Blue Book by
LTC Hector Quinatanilla are now in Barry Greenwood' UFO collection.
Dr. Strentz visited Project Blue Book to collect material for his PhD
dissertation concerning UFOs and the Press.  LTC Quintinilla was
preparing to dispose of this microfilm when Dr. Strenz showed up.
Apparently the other rolls containing the remaining Project Sign
documents were destroyed.  Who knows what other material LTC
Quintinilla sent to the incinerator?


 Jan Aldrich