Declassified FBI Files Detail 1960s UFO Witness Accounts

Declassified FBI records released Friday include a 1966 internal memo describing witness accounts of 'three and a half to four feet tall' figures wearing space suits and helmets near unidentified flying objects during a wave of sightings in 1965. The memo, sent from the FBI's San Francisco office to Director J. Edgar Hoover, characterizes the reports as part of global UFO activity that year, with objects described as silent, metallic, and capable of sudden high-speed maneuvers.

Witnesses reported that the craft emitted force fields disrupting electrical systems and left scorched ground after departure; the FBI noted claims of recovered wreckage analyzed as 'exceptionally hard unknown metal' and magnesium alloys containing microscopic metal spheres and signs of micro-meteorite impacts. The bureau documented three alleged crash recoveries but did not verify the material's origin.

The 1966 memo highlighted public reaction to Frank Edwards' book Flying Saucers – Serious Business, which accused the U.S. Air Force of concealing UFO data to prevent panic. At the time, Congressman Gerald Ford supported congressional hearings, contributing to the Air Force's commissioning of a $300,000 study led by University of Colorado physicist Edward U. Condon.

The files were released under an executive order by President Donald Trump directing Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to declassify records related to Unidentified Aerial Phenomena. FBI officials stress the documents reflect contemporaneous reports and media narratives, not validated evidence of extraterrestrial life.

The Department of War will continue releasing UAP-related records in phases, with the next batch expected within 90 days.