by Charles Lear
The 1956 book by Edward J. Ruppelt, “The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects” is a must-read for anyone interested in the subject. Capt. Ruppelt was the first director of Project Blue Book after leading a massive re-organization effort to revitalize the investigation while it was still operating as Project Grudge. He was the person who came up with the designation, Unidentified Flying Object, or UFO, which was pronounced “yoofo”, for what were popularly known as flying saucers. His book recounts his time with the project under both names and provides an insider’s view of what were then classified activities. There are two editions of the book with two different endings. The second edition was published in 1960 and Ruppelt included recent cases as a means to update the book. This edition has three more chapters tacked on that have a decidedly more negative tone than the original preceding chapters, where Ruppelt displays an open-minded view. This has led some to wonder if Ruppelt was pressured by the Air Force, which was then following the Robertson Panel’s recommendation to downplay UFO reports.
A truly remarkable aspect of Ruppelt’s book is that it can be checked against declassified documents. During his time with Grudge and Blue Book, Ruppelt wrote a series of 12 status reports. They consist of descriptions of the efforts made to make the investigation more efficient and scientific along with lists and summations of significant cases. The Ruppelt in the status reports is the same Ruppelt in the book though, understandably, more formal. One gets a sense of healthy skepticism along with an openness to be convinced that UFOs are interplanetary given enough good, scientific evidence.