Why is there a missing page in the US National Archives from the Blue Book file regarding the notable 1953 Lockheed UFO sighting involving Kelly Johnson? <\/p>\n
On the afternoon of December 16, 1953, Kelly Johnson and his wife spotted something in the sky from their California ranch, which Johnson suspected might be a UFO. Unbeknownst to him at the time, several Lockheed employees\u2014including Roy Wimmer, Rudy Thoren, Joseph Ware, and Phil Colman\u2014were flying offshore and also witnessed what they believed to be a flying saucer (Charlie Grugan was present on the aircraft but there is no statement confirming whether he saw the object). The following day, Johnson spoke with the other witnesses and had them write their accounts; he then submitted these statements to the Air Force, including his own and those from Thoren, Wimmer, Colman, and Ware.<\/p>\n
I’ve heard this story multiple times. There\u2019s an excellent reenactment of the events in a YouTube video<\/a>, and the Blue Book file itself can be accessed through various sources, including the US National Archives<\/a>. My interest in this incident has grown, particularly after references by Steve Justice<\/a>, who described it as a pivotal moment that sparked his intrigue in UFOs.<\/p>\n Today, I revisited the details of the event on the CUFOS website, which provides an insightful summary<\/a>. Notably, Kelly Johnson mentions in his testimony that he had been interested in UFOs for “at least five years,” which stood out to me since it would imply a fascination beginning around 1948, shortly after the Roswell incident. The CUFOS article even raises the question: \u201cWhat occurred around 1948 to transform Johnson into a believer?\u201d<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Curious about the original documents, I searched archive.org and the US National Archives. Interestingly, the second page of Johnson’s statement, which details his five-year interest in UFOs and a prior encounter with his wife, is missing.<\/strong> While the first page is available<\/a>, the subsequent page is nowhere to be found. Crucially, Johnson discusses sketches on this missing page, including one related to a sighting from November 1951.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the missing text, courtesy of the NICAP website and Project1947, highlighted in italics:<\/p>\n On the morning of December 17th, I returned to work, having been absent for about a week, and met with Mr. Wassell, Assistant Chief Engineer, and Mr. Carl Haddon, Chief Project Engineer, along with Mr. Rudy Thoren. Mr. Thoren stated that he had seen a flying saucer the day before. I immediately interrupted him, eager to describe my own experience. After sharing my account, Mr. Thoren was astonished and detailed his experience, as did our engineering test pilot Mr. Roy Wimmer, flight engineer Joe Ware, and chief aerodynamicist P.A. Colman, all of whom witnessed the object as described in Mr. Thoren\u2019s memo. <\/p>\n I should also mention that Mrs. Johnson and I saw an object a couple of years ago that I believed to be a saucer, traveling west of Brents Junction, California. On that dark night, I could only see a distinct flame or emanation, as depicted in the attached sketch. The object moved quickly from east to west, silently, with a striking blue flame that had<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\n