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PDF · DoWPURSUE Release 03

Department of War PURSUE File

DOW-UAP-D086, USNavy-Report-of-Flying-Discs_1948

Declassified

Editorial summary

This is a 1948 memorandum from the Commandant of the 5th Naval District concerning the reporting of flying discs. It cites a related memorandum from the Chief of Naval Operations on the same subject. The memorandum directs that naval stations report such incidents to the nearest Air Force command and to the Naval District Intelligence Office. The extracted text of this scanned record is minimal, but per the official description it documents early Navy procedures for routing flying disc reports.

Editorial summary written by govweird from the declassified document text. The official government description follows below.

Government description

This document is a memorandum from the Commandant of the 5th Naval District, and it cites a memorandum related to "flying discs" from the Chief of Naval Operations. The memorandum requests that naval stations report incidents to the nearest Air Force command and to the Naval District Intelligence Office.

Caption issued by the U.S. Department of War on war.gov/ufo. Verbatim, unedited.

Originating agency

Department of War

Record type

PDF

Incident date

Unspecified

Incident location

Unspecified

Release tranche

Release 03 (May 8, 2026)

Distribution

Cleared for public release

Original document

PDF hosted by war.gov. If the embedded viewer fails to load, open the file directly.

More from DoW

Source: war.gov/ufo · PURSUE Release 03

PURSUE = Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters. Records released by the U.S. Department of War on May 8, 2026 are unresolved cases for which the government cannot make a definitive determination, and the Department has invited private-sector analysis.