FBI-UAP-D011, D/FBI Correspondence Referral, 1949

1949

Declassified

Editorial summary

This file contains 1949 correspondence between FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover and Rev. Charles C. Barnes of Oregon. In a letter dated January 31, 1949, Rev. Barnes reported that the previous May he had seen four beams in the sky passing from the northwest to the southeast and converging in the Cascade Mountains. He wrote that small clouds formed within the beams and that a great explosion effect was visible where they met, at an estimated altitude of about ten thousand feet, lasting at least ten minutes. He speculated the event might relate to a scientific experiment. Director Hoover replied thanking him and noted the letter had been forwarded to the Atomic Energy Commission.

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

Government description

This collection of documents contains correspondence between the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), J. Edgar Hoover, and Rev. Charles Barnes concerning Barnes’ account of an incident potentially involving unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP). Rev. Barnes described observing four beams of light “converging in the Cascade Mountains,” at an altitude of approximately 10,000 feet, with a “great explosion” visible at the convergence point of those beams for at least ten minutes. Director Hoover replied to Rev. Barnes thanking him for his letter and informing him that he had forwarded it to the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). Director Hoover conveyed to the AEC that Rev. Barnes believed that the event may relate to a military or scientific experiment within the commission’s purview.

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

Originating agency

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Record type

PDF

Incident date

1949

Incident location

Unspecified

Release tranche