National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) – UAP/UFO Records Portal

Official title: Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Records Collection (Record Group 615), established under sections 1841–1843 of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act. The broader research portal is titled “Records Related to Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) and Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs) at the National Archives.”

Location: Primary research facility is the National Archives at College Park, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740-6001. The National Archives Building (headquarters and museum) is at 700 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20408. Most UAP/UFO research materials and electronic records access are handled at College Park.

Conditions of access to archival material
Publicly releasable digital copies are made available online through the National Archives Catalog (catalog.archives.gov) on a rolling basis as agencies transfer them. Items in the Catalog are downloadable and may be republished with attribution to NARA. Bulk downloads (ZIPs of digital objects plus JSON metadata) are also offered for UAP-related Catalog content.

Some materials (especially certain moving images, sound recordings, or items with donor/copyright/IP restrictions) are not online and require onsite viewing in the appropriate research rooms at the National Archives at College Park. Research room hours are typically Monday–Friday, 9 a.m.–5 p.m.; appointments are highly encouraged. Publicly releasable records are unrestricted once released; agencies must transfer both redacted public-use and full-text versions where redactions apply. Contact inquire@nara.gov for reference inquiries.

Physical size of material:
Project Blue Book textual records (RG 341 and related) are described by NARA as approximately 2 cubic feet of administrative/project files, 37 cubic feet of case files, and 3 cubic feet of related Office of Special Investigations records (roughly 42 cubic feet total; a cubic foot is about 2,000 pages). Access to the main textual case files is via 94 rolls of 35 mm microfilm (Publication T-1206). Motion pictures, sound recordings, and still pictures are held separately in specialized branches.

RG 615 is digital-only (NARA accepts only digital copies; original source records remain with the originating agencies under their disposition schedules). Overall physical size of all NARA UAP-related holdings is not quantified beyond the Blue Book figures, as materials are dispersed across multiple record groups and media types.

Description of NARA
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent federal agency established in 1934. Its mission is to preserve, protect, and share the historical records of the United States to promote public inquiry and strengthen democratic participation. It identifies, preserves, and provides public access to historically valuable records of the federal government (typically only 1–3% of all records created), including textual records, photographs, moving images, electronic records, and more. NARA operates the National Archives Building in Washington, DC, the National Archives at College Park, Presidential libraries, regional facilities, the Office of the Federal Register, and related programs. It is the nation’s official record keeper for permanent federal

NARA maintains permanent federal records of historical value across numerous record groups. For the UAP topic, this includes longstanding holdings (especially Air Force Project Blue Book and related investigations) plus the new dedicated Record Group 615 for digital copies of UAP records transferred from federal agencies under the 2024 NDAA. A dedicated research topic page organizes access to both.

Description of UAP specific material

NARA’s UAP/UFO holdings fall into two main categories:

1. Pre-existing records across multiple record groups (documented on the main UAP topic page and subpages for textual/microfilm, moving images/sound, presidential libraries, and by record group). The largest and best-known is Project Blue Book (U.S. Air Force UFO investigation program, 1947–1969), which logged 12,618 sightings of which 701 remained unidentified at closure. Holdings include administrative files, chronological case files, OSI-related records, microfilm (T-1206), motion picture films, sound recordings, and some still pictures/artifacts. Related materials appear in RG 341 (Headquarters U.S. Air Force/Air Staff), RG 342 (Air Force Commands), and others. Additional records come from the CIA, NASA, FAA (e.g., Japan Airlines Flight 1628 materials), Office of the Secretary of Defense, Navy installations, Allied WWII headquarters, U.S. Information Agency, and more. These include reports, correspondence, photographs, films (e.g., Major General John A. Samford’s 1952 “Flying Saucers” statement), and Roswell-related source files. Many are cataloged with National Archives Identifiers and some are digitized.
2. Record Group 615: Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Records Collection. Created specifically under the 2024 NDAA, this consists of digital copies of “all Government, Government-provided, or Government-funded records relating to unidentified anomalous phenomena, technologies of unknown origin, and non-human intelligence (or equivalent subjects by any other name with the specific and sole exclusion of temporarily non-attributed objects).” Agencies identify records in any format, create digital copies (with required metadata), and transfer them to NARA on a rolling basis. NARA accessioned these into RG 615 and makes publicly releasable copies available online in the Catalog. Series received or listed include materials from the Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Office of the Secretary of Defense, National Security Agency, Department of State, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of the Air Force, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Content includes reports, annual assessments, historical documents, videos (e.g., CBP infrared footage), and other agency records. The collection continues to expand as additional transfers arrive. NARA issued guidance to agencies on identification, preparation, and transfer (including handling of redactions).

A dedicated bulk-download page supports large-scale research on digitized and born-digital UAP-related Catalog objects. The overall portal (including subpages for different media types and RG 615) serves as the central public finding aid.