FBIUnknown

Air Force Intel Officer confirms flying saucers 'do exist' — Cincinnati civilian researcher interview

Sep 21, 1954Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio

⟳ Deeper read pending. This record is from the FBI 62-HQ-83894 flying-disc file, whose cursive, clippings and faint scans are under-read by automated OCR. It is flagged for a vision-transcription pass and likely undercounts what the source contains — see the documents collection note.

Analysis — our summary

Leonard H. Stringfield, director of the civilian organization 'Civilian Research, Interplanetary Flying Objects' (CRIFO) in Cincinnati, reported a private conversation with Lt. Colonel John O'Mara, Deputy Commander, Intelligence, USAF, at Wright-Patterson, on September 21, 1954. According to Stringfield's published newsletter (filed in FBI records), O'Mara confirmed flying saucers 'do exist' and indicated past denials were 'unfortunate,' adding that the Air Force planned to cooperate with the public. O'Mara described three categories: controlled devices from outer space, secret American devices, and unexplained natural phenomena. The FBI monitored Stringfield's organization as a possible counterintelligence concern.

As reported — verbatim from the document

“"Flying saucers 'do exist' the Colonel told me, and he added, in effect, past contradictions were unfortunate"; "the Colonel said he believed there were 'three breakdowns' -- the third, 'natural phenomena'"”

Analyst notes — caveats & confidence

This record is based on a civilian newsletter (CRIFO Vol. I No. 7, October 1, 1954) filed in FBI records. The O'Mara statements are Stringfield's account, not a direct FBI transcript. O'Mara did not officially confirm these statements for the record. FBI was monitoring Stringfield for potential counterintelligence concerns. OCR quality is good.

Provenance

Source document65_HS1-834228961_62-HQ-83894_Section_6.pdf

Document typecorrespondence collection

Reporting agencyFBI

Source pages271

DeclassifiedFirst public at this release (2026)

Held classified~72 years (≥, to this release)

Extraction confidence LowHow cleanly this record could be parsed from the source — driven by legibility & redaction. It is not a measure of how credible or anomalous the sighting is.