Case file · Disclosure & CE-5
Edward J. Ruppelt
US Air Force officer (1923–1960) who directed Project Blue Book from 1952 to 1953 and is credited with coining the term 'unidentified flying object'.
1952 CE · 39.83, -84.05 · status: official
The account
Ruppelt ran Project Grudge and then Blue Book from March 1952 until late 1953, covering the year of the Washington, D.C. flap. UFO historian Jerome Clark calls his tenure Blue Book's 'golden age', when investigations were most capably run and investigators did not force-fit explanations. He introduced 'UFO' because terms like 'flying saucer' were misleading.
The sceptical view
Ruppelt's open-mindedness is not evidence in itself; most Blue Book cases, including in his era, were explained as misidentifications.
Connections in the atlas
- Project Sign’s "Estimate of the Situation"
- Lubbock Lights
- Edward J. Ruppelt
- The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects
- ▶ The government UFO files
- Maury Island incident
- Project Grudge
- Washington D.C. flap
- Donald Keyhoe
- Project Blue Book closes