Case File · FBI · First Saucer Wave (1947-1952) Declassified May 8, 2026 · PURSUE Release 01

Kenneth Arnold UFO Sighting, Unknown location, July 31 (1947 (Doc 3/P51))

UFO Visual Sighting

Arnold sighting: Information regarding flying discs was received in early July. An FBI agent was contacted on July 31st regarding the matter and forwarded relevant documents.

July 31, 1947
Unknown location
Source document: PURSUE doc 3
Source document: PURSUE doc 3 · Source: declassified document

Background

A UFO/UAP incident extracted from page 51 of 65_HS1-834228961_62-HQ-83894_Section_3, a declassified FBI vault file released by the Department of War on May 8, 2026 as part of the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE). The incident is dated July 31, 1947 and located in Unknown location.

What the file records

Information regarding flying discs was received in early July. An FBI agent was contacted on July 31st regarding the matter and forwarded relevant documents.

Witnesses on file: FBI agents.

Status of the case

The page-level assessment recorded in the file is: no agency assessment. All records released under the PURSUE program are designated unresolved by the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office unless otherwise stated, meaning the federal government has not concluded the events were anomalous, has not concluded they were conventional, and has not ruled out either possibility. Conventional candidates for sightings of this period include experimental aircraft, weather balloons (especially the Project Mogul series), atmospheric optical phenomena, and astronomical objects.

Sources