Department of War PURSUE File
CIA-UAP-019, Australian Dept of Defense Scientific and Intel Aspects of the UFO Problem
Australia·1971
Editorial summary
This 1971 Australian Department of Defence document, released by the National Archives of Australia, reviews the history of U.S. official handling of UFO reports. It traces the U.S. Air Force programs from the 1947 work at the Air Technical Intelligence Center through Projects SIGN, GRUDGE and BLUE BOOK, and the 1953 Robertson panel. The paper discusses shifting positions on whether sightings were Soviet or interplanetary, and the CIA's interest in the matter. It concludes that Australia lacked a proper intelligence and scientific approach to UFO reports and argues another government department should take over investigation.
Editorial summary written by govweird from the declassified document text. The official government description follows below.
Government description
Dated to 1971, an Australian review of the USAF Project Blue Book. This document was released by the National Archives of Australia.
Caption issued by the U.S. Department of War on war.gov/ufo. Verbatim, unedited.
Originating agency
Central Intelligence Agency
Record type
Incident date
1971
Incident location
Australia
Release tranche
Release 03 (May 8, 2026)
Distribution
Cleared for public release