Department of War PURSUE File
CIA-UAP-014, British activity in the Field of "Unidentified Flying Objects"
December, 1952
Editorial summary
This December 18, 1952 CIA memorandum for the record describes British activity on unidentified flying objects. It reports that a messenger from Britain had spoken with R. V. Jones and others, and that the British had formed a standing committee on flying saucers about sixteen months earlier, concluding the observations were not enemy aircraft. It recounts a Yorkshire incident in which a flying saucer was seen during a demonstration at an RAF field by high RAF officials and pilots, drawing press coverage. The memo also lists potential dangers from such sightings, including weakening of early warning and the risk of mass hysteria.
Editorial summary written by govweird from the declassified document text. The official government description follows below.
Government description
A December 1952 Memo on the activities the British are taking to identify UFOs. The memo references a UFO sighting at an RAF field seen by high officials and RAF pilots. A more redacted version of the memo has been available on CIA's public website.
Caption issued by the U.S. Department of War on war.gov/ufo. Verbatim, unedited.
Originating agency
Central Intelligence Agency
Record type
Incident date
December, 1952
Incident location
Unspecified
Release tranche
Release 03 (May 8, 2026)
Distribution
Cleared for public release