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Background
Rob
Mercer is a longtime follower of the UFO phenomenon and
a history buff, as well as a UFO Investigator from Ohio.
He resides in the Springfield, Ohio area about 20 minutes
from Wright Patterson Air Force Base. Wright Patterson has
a rich history of research and development. It also plays
an important part in UFO lore, with its ties to Roswell
in 1947 and other UFO events. The Air Force also conducted
their different investigation programs of UFOs there, including
Project Blue Book. Rob had spent years doing service work
in homes in the Dayton area, including those of personnel
who worked at the base. During this time, it was not uncommon
for him to come across people that are also interested in
UFOs. Some would have collections of books or binders put
together from private investigators. Items that will eventually
be passed on to relatives, who in most cases, don’t
care to keep them. It is a good bet that a lot of these
collections will meet the curb, but from time to time, you
can find items such as these on Ebay or similar sites. Cost,
time, and effort with shipping are required with these,
something that most won’t bother with. Craigslist however,
provides a place that is free, and it allows for local pickup.
For this reason, he long thought that if he kept an eye
out, he might come across some deals on some personal collections.
One
evening in late 2013, under a UFO search on Craigslist in
the Dayton, Ohio area, he came across an ad that advertised
Project Blue Book Pics and Documents. The ad was from Centerville,
which is located just south of Dayton. It stated that the
materials were apparently the property of an Air Force Captain
who was assigned to Project Blue Book. They were found behind
a pile of lumber bought at auction in a garage in Fairborn,
Ohio. A good portion of Wright Patterson is located in Fairborn,
so upon seeing this, he was instantly intrigued. There was
a good chance that it was the real deal. The next morning
when Rob received a response, he was told that there had
been no interest in the files up to that point. After work,
he made the trip to view the items and was convinced of
their authenticity. After purchasing the files (ALL UNCLASSIFIED),
to be safe, he made sure to get a screenshot of the ad in
hopes of protecting himself if the files ended up having
been stolen.
This
is a copy of the original
advertisement for the collection.
After
returning home, Rob began to trace their origin, as everything
the seller knew about them was in the ad. He found a name
that was on many of the later documents, and began his search
there. He was able to determine the name was associated
with a house that had been sold a few years before. A search
showed this same house having an auction a couple of months
prior. He drove by the house, and saw that there was a two-story
garage behind it. This was the perfect place for items to
be stored, misplaced and possibly lost over time.
A
photograph of the garage where the items were found.
Convinced that the story was true, and that he was on the
right track, Rob set about confirming that this was the
actual Air Force Officer, and not just someone else that
shared the same name. Everything matched up and he began
trying to figure out how to approach him. In the case that
he was unaware of the files being out, he did not want to
expose him to trouble. The box contained slides showing
“UFO” photos and other briefing documents, two
binders with case summaries and photos, a 16mm film reel
from Moline, IL and various other files.
Lt. Carmon Marano, Circled
Contact
was eventually made with the Officer and they ended up spending
a couple of hours talking. He said that he didn’t realize
that he had left them behind when he moved out. They spoke
about his time in service, the UFO program and politics.
After 45 years, his memory was a little fuzzy, but he remembered
some of the cases. The Officer said he grew up a fan of
science fiction, and mentioned that when he was first assigned
to the program, he planned to prove that we were being visited.
After two years, he became burned out and convinced otherwise.
When looking at some of the hoaxes and other photos submitted
to Blue Book, along with the amount of paperwork that went
into each case, it is easy to see why this would happen.
By the late 60s, little resources and staff were available.
Email
exchange with Lt. Carmon Marano
His
duties included briefings on UFOs for the Air Force and
investigating sightings. During his time, he was also charged
with organizing the case files. Blue Book didn’t have
the best relationship with the press, and from time to time,
they would get requests about specific cases. He took it
upon himself to make the process friendlier; he copied case
files and organized them into books to make it easier for
them. When the program shut down and closed in 1970, he
declassified all of the case files except for Navy sightings.
They could not be declassified because they would reveal
military whereabouts. From there, they sent the files on
to Maxwell Air Force Base.
After seeing how much Rob enjoyed the subject, the Officer
informed him that he had a few more boxes from his Blue
Book days back home where he stays during the spring and
summer. Rob was sent four more boxes, including: books,
photos, case files, memos, rules & regulations, film,
reel to reel sound tape, correspondences and more (ALL UNCLASSIFIED).
He learned that the files he acquired were some originals,
as well as copies that were used for the press, as well
as UFO investigation tools, books, and other UFO-related
documents and inter-office memos (ALL UNCLASSIFIED) from
their actual desks. They were earmarked for the trash, but
the officer kept them as souvenirs.
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| Document
Archive
• Access
to UFO Files, Undated
• Aerospace
Technologies Division Personnel List, Undated
• AFR
80-17, AFR 200-2 Reporting Form, Undated
• Aids
To Identification Of Flying Objects, Date Unknown
• Air
Defense Command (ADC) and North American Aerospace Defense
Command (NORAD)
• Air
Force to Contract with Scientists for UFO Investigations,
9 May 1966
• Arriving
from Mars by UFO? by Charles H. Smiley, Brown University,
USAF SAFOI, 1960
• Cartoons
& Comics
• Cut
Off Date for Investigating UFO Reports, 28 March 1968
• Evaluation
of Photo Cases, 5 April 1968
• The
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and UFOs, 20 September
1967
• Foreign
Technology Division Chain of Command, 1 July 1968
• History
of Project, Undated
• Invitation,
Wright-Patterson Officers Open Mess Hall, 5 December 1967
• Project
Blue Book Briefing Notes, Unknown Date
• Project
Blue Book Policy Statements, 23 June 1968
• Project
Blue Book Records, 18 July 1969
• Project
Blue Book Reference Notes
• Project
Blue Book Regulations (Various)
• Project
Sign, February 1949
• Release
of Information to the Public, 29 April 1968
• Sighting
of Unidentified Phenomena Questionnaire, August 1967
• Sightings
and Statistics
• Status
Reports and Special Reports, #1-12 and #14
• The
Smithsonian Institute and UFOs, 27 September 1967
• Space
Detection & Tracking, 16 November 1967
• Training/Orientation
of Newly Assigned Personnel, 27 October 1966
• The
Unidentified Flying Object Program presented to the American
Society of Newspaper Editors, by Major Hector Quintanilla,
Jr. – 22 April 1967
• Unidentified
Flying Objects presented by 1st Lt. William F. Marley, Jr.
– 7 July 1967
• UFO
Analysis Sheet, January 1962
• UFO
Project Officers, Unknown Date
• UFOs:
A Report on Unidentified Flying Objects, Date Unknown
• University
of Colorado/Condon Committee
• USAF
Information Bulletin, 15 May 1968
• Wreckage
of Flying Saucer at Spitzbergan
Individual
Case Files
• Complete
Case Listing, 1947-1958
• Complete
Case Listing, 1959-1965
• Complete
Case Listing, 1966-1969
• Alamogordo,
New Mexico – 11 November 1957 –
It is noted that the PBB staff incorrectly spelled “Alamogordo.”
• Case
File Photographs, 1953-1966
• Case
File Photographs, 1967-1969
• Case
File Photographs, Various Dates
• Case
File Photographs, No Descriptions or Captions
• Florida,
22 July 1969
• Mosinee,
Wisconsin, 29 May 1968
• Pensacola,
Florida, 1 July 1969
• Phoenix,
Arizona, 1920s
• Socorro,
New Mexico UFO Landing, 24 April 1964
• White
Sands, New Mexico, 3 November 1957
J.
Allen Hynek Collection
The
following material was collected from J. Allen Hynek. It
is believed that the majority of this, do not appear anywhere
else in the Blue Book files.
• A
summary of the investigation by Captain Hardin, USAF, and
Dr. J. Allen Hynek, of the reported visual sightings of
UFOs at Bismark, North Dakota and Blackhawk, South Dakota,
on 5/6 August 1953 [64 Pages, 22MB]
• J.
Allen Hynek Bills and Journals [27 Pages,
11.5MB]
• J.
Allen Hynek Correspondence Files [67 Pages,
28MB]
• J.
Allen Hynek Misc. Files [20 Pages, 7.8MB]
• J.
Allen Hynek Various Blue Book Files [22 Pages,
7.2MB]
• The
Piri Reis’ Maps [25 Pages, 6.4MB] –
This was a paper written by one of Dr. Hynek’s students
at Northwestern University.
Film
Reel Archive
• Hector
Quintanilla Briefing, February 1965, Soccorro, New Mexico
UFO Landing
• Moline,
Illinois by Patrolman Fisher, 8mm, 9 March 1967
• Morgantown,
West Virginia Police Officer Interviews, 3 March 1968
• Tremonton,
Utah, by Navy Warrant Officer Delbert Newhouse, 16mm, 7
July 1952
• Unknown,
66-M-I-56, 16mm Film – Date Unknown
Project
Blue Book Reference Papers/Publications
• A
Preliminary Study Of Unidentified Targets Observed On Air
Traffic Control Radars, May 1953
• Ball
Lightning Bibliography, 1950-1960
• Facts
About Unidentified Flying Objects (Library of Congress Legislative
Reference Service), 5 May 1966
• NASA
Satellite Situation Report, Volume 9, No. 22, 30 November
1969
• The
Airmen: What Does The Air Force Really Know About Flying
Saucers?, July 1967
• U.S.
Department of Commerce Weather Bureau Information on Ball
Lightning, Appendix H, Circa 1948
Sighting
Research And Investigation Tools
This
was a folder that contains most of the Project Blue Book
investigation Tools. Some material was slightly redacted
to preserve privacy of some individuals, and is separated
to best index the documents in folder. (Note: some of the
material below MAY be copyrighted. It is archived here for
research and reference, and all copyrights are held by their
respective holders. Also, you will note each PDF has bookmarks
built in to help organize the information below even further.)
• Advertising
Signs
• Aircraft
• Articles
& Clippings
• Avro
• Balloons
• Celestial
• Clouds
• Correspondence
• Meteors
• Report
Forms
• Satellites
• Various
Research
Project
Blue Book Library
The
Project Blue Book staff had their share of books on the
shelves for reference, some of which, were saved by 2nd
Lt. Carmon Marano. Below, you will find the book covers
scanned in.
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