Federal Bureau of Investigation

Guy Hottel memo on ‘flying saucers’ recovered in New Mexico

Memo · written 22 March 1950 · released April 2011

Why this matters

A one-page memo from the head of the FBI's Washington field office passing along a second-hand story that three 'flying saucers', each holding small bodies, had been recovered in New Mexico. The Bureau never investigated it. The FBI later explained that the memo only repeats an unverified claim, yet it became the most-viewed file in the Vault.

Read the original

https://vault.fbi.gov/hottel_guy

Hosted by FBI Vault

Tags

Part of a collection · step 3 of 16

Declassified UFO Programs

The Vault's most-viewed page: a second-hand story, never investigated.

Cite

Federal Bureau of Investigation. "Guy Hottel memo on ‘flying saucers’ recovered in New Mexico." 22 March 1950. Released April 2011. https://vault.fbi.gov/hottel_guy (accessed via The Quiet Archive, QA-0006).

Shelved nearby

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    Roswell UFO: FBI Dallas teletype of 8 July 1947

    The FBI's contemporaneous teletype on the Roswell debris, sent the day the base announced it had recovered a 'flying disc'.

    Written 8 Jul 1947 Released Apr 2011 Declassified United States Live
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    FBI · Case file

    Animal Mutilation: FBI records on 1970s cattle mutilation reports

    FBI correspondence and case material from the wave of 'cattle mutilation' reports in the 1970s, including requests from New Mexico officials and a U.S. senator to investigate cases on tribal land, where the Bureau had jurisdiction.

    Written 1979 Released Apr 2011 Declassified United States Live
  4. 1988 QA-0009
    FBI · Case file

    Majestic 12: FBI investigation of the MJ-12 documents

    When documents describing a secret 'Majestic 12' UFO-recovery committee began circulating in the late 1980s, the FBI looked into whether classified information had leaked.

    Written 1988 Released Apr 2011 Declassified United States Live