Place · Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, near Dayton, Ohio
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
Also known as Wright-Patterson AFB, Wright-Patterson, Wright-Patt, Wright Field, WPAFB
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, near Dayton, Ohio, known in the 1940s as Wright Field, was the centre of the U.S. Air Force's UFO investigations for more than two decades. Its Air Materiel Command took over Project Sign in January 1948 after Lt. Gen. Nathan Twining's 1947 letter, and the base later housed Project Grudge and, from 1952 to 1969, Project Blue Book. In 1952 the CIA found its Air Technical Intelligence Center to be the only group giving the subject serious effort.
It is also central to the Roswell story: a July 1947 FBI message said the debris recovered near Roswell was being flown to Wright Field for examination, the origin of the "Hangar 18" legend. A 1995 GAO search found no Wright Field records mentioning the crash. Members of Congress, including Jared Moskowitz, have since named the base as a place they want access to. In December 2024 its airspace was closed for several hours by drone incursions.
Sources: CIA, Studies in Intelligence (1997) · Twining memo (1947) · AARO Historical Record Report, Vol. 1 (2024) · PURSUE release 07 (McCoy record) · GAO report on Roswell (1995) · July 26, 2023 hearing
Facts and claims
- documented The CIA's 1997 history records that the Technical Intelligence Division of the Air Materiel Command “at Wright Field (later Wright-Patterson Air Force Base) in Dayton, Ohio, assumed control of Project SIGN and began its work on 23 January 1948.” Source: CIA's Role in the Study of UFOs, 1947–90 (Gerald K. Haines, Studies in Intelligence, 1997)
- documented Lt. Gen. Nathan Twining's September 1947 letter from Headquarters, Air Materiel Command at Wright Field, stating that “the phenomenon reported is something real and not visionary or fictitious,” led to Project Sign. Source: Twining memo: AMC Opinion Concerning “Flying Discs”
- documented AARO's 2024 historical report says Project Blue Book (1952–1969), the longest-running U.S. UFO investigation, was “Based at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio”. Source: AARO Historical Record Report, Volume 1
- documented The personnel record of Col. Howard M. McCoy, released in PURSUE release 07, shows that from 1946 to 1949 he was Deputy Commanding General for Intelligence and later Chief of the Intelligence Department at Headquarters, Air Materiel Command, “at what is now known as Wright-Patterson Air Force Base”, when Projects Sign and Grudge began. Source: DOW-UAP-D180 — Final Personnel Record for McCoy, Howard M., U.S. Air Force, 1954
- documented A July 8, 1947 FBI message, quoted by the GAO in 1995, said the disc and balloon recovered near Roswell “were being sent to Wright Field (now Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio) for examination”; the GAO found no Wright Field records from 1947–1950 mentioning the crash or any examination of debris. Source: GAO report on the Roswell crash records (B-262046, July 28, 1995)
- claimed At the July 2023 hearing, Rep. Jared Moskowitz said that if there is nothing to conceal, Congress should be allowed into Wright-Patterson, Dugway Proving Ground or Groom Lake (Area 51). — Jared Moskowitz Source: House holds hearing on UFOs, government transparency | full video at 22:40
- claimed Former Senator Barry Goldwater said in 1994 that he believed “at Wright-Patterson Field if you could get into certain places you'd find out what the Air Force and the government knows about UFOs”, and that Gen. Curtis LeMay angrily refused his request to see a room there; he said he could not back it up. — Barry Goldwater Source: UFO Cover-Up Live with Larry King (CNN/TNT, 1994) at 1:04:13
Connected files
Books
- UFO Crash/Retrievals: Status Reports I–VII (subject of)
- UFO Secrets Inside Wright-Patterson: Eyewitness Accounts from the Real Area 51 (subject of)
Documents
- Project Blue Book case file: Lincoln, New Hampshire, September 1961 (the Hill case) (mentioned in) — A 1963 letter from the Foreign Technology Division at Wright-Patterson on the Barney Hill sighting
- GAO report on the Roswell crash records (B-262046, July 28, 1995) (subject of) — It found the FBI message saying the Roswell disc was flown to Wright Field, but nothing in Wright Field's records
- Twining memo: AMC Opinion Concerning “Flying Discs” (origin of) — Twining wrote the 1947 letter from Air Materiel Command headquarters at Wright Field
- CIA memorandum: “Flying Saucers” (Office of Scientific Intelligence to the Director of Central Intelligence) (assessed in) — The CIA found the Air Technical Intelligence Center at Wright-Patterson the only group giving the subject serious effort
Incidents
- Magenta crash (alleged, 1933) (allegedly received) — Eric Davis says the Army brought the 1933 Italian craft back to Wright Field
- Roswell crash (destination for) — The FBI's July 1947 message said the Roswell disc and balloon were being sent to Wright Field
- Wright-Patterson AFB drone incursions (Ohio, 2024) (site of)
Organizations
- National Air and Space Intelligence Center (home of) — Headquartered at Wright-Patterson; its lineage runs back to Wright Field's T-2 Intelligence Department
- Department of War (Department of Defense) (used by)
- Battelle (contracted) — In 1952 ATIC at Wright-Patterson arranged for Battelle to support its UFO project
People
- Barry Goldwater (claims by) — He believed the Air Force kept what it knows about UFOs in a room at Wright-Patterson; Gen. LeMay refused him access
- Leonard Stringfield (claims by) — Many of his retrieval accounts are set at Wright-Patterson; he said his cases could be considered hearsay
- Jared Moskowitz (statements by)
Places
- Area 51 (named with) — Rep. Moskowitz said Congress should be allowed into Wright-Patterson, Dugway or Groom Lake
Programs
- Project Sign (home of) — Air Materiel Command at Wright Field took over Project Sign in January 1948, after Twining's 1947 letter
- Project Grudge (home of) — The base later housed Project Grudge
- Project Blue Book (home of) — Blue Book was run from Wright-Patterson from 1952 to 1969
Official records (PURSUE)
- DOW-UAP-D180 — Final Personnel Record for McCoy, Howard M., U.S. Air Force, 1954 (documented in) — Personnel record of Col. Howard McCoy, intelligence chief at Air Materiel Command, Wright Field, 1946–49
Videos
- UFO Cover-Up Live with Larry King (CNN/TNT, 1994) (subject of)
- Col. Philip J. Corso: The Day After Roswell lecture “at the Ranch” (22 February 1998) (discussed in)
- Citizen Hearing 2013: A Global Phenomenon, Part 1 (discussed in)
- Citizen Hearing 2013: History & Background, Part 2 (discussed in)
- Citizen Hearing 2013: Roswell, Part 1 (discussed in)
- Citizen Hearing 2013: Roswell, Part 2 (discussed in)
- Citizen Hearing 2013: Truth, Lies & the Cover-up, Part 1 (discussed in)
- Inside the DIA's Secretive UFO Investigation: Lacatski and Kelleher on WEAPONIZED #38 (October 2023) (discussed in)
- Wright-Patterson Air Force Base's airspace shut down due to unidentified drones (WCPO 9, 2024) (discussed in)
- Understanding UAP: Science, National Security & Innovation (House Oversight and Government Reform) (discussed in)
- UAP & National Security: Mellon, Gallaudet, von Rennenkampff & McConnell at Disclosure Forum 2026 (discussed in)
- Joe Rogan Experience #2314: Hal Puthoff (discussed in)
Mentioned in this file
- Nathan F. Twining (Person)
- AARO Historical Record Report, Volume 1 (Document)
- Central Intelligence Agency (Organization)
- Federal Bureau of Investigation (Organization)
- All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (Program)
Mentioned in videos
- UFO Cover-Up Live with Larry King (CNN/TNT, 1994)
- Citizen Hearing 2013: Opening statements (Mitchell, Hellyer)
- Citizen Hearing 2013: Roswell, Part 2
- Joe Rogan Experience #2314: Hal Puthoff
Mentioned in documents and records
- Exempt from Disclosure: The Disturbing Case About the UFO Coverup
- Unidentified Aerial Objects: Project “SIGN” (Air Materiel Command, Technical Report No. F-TR-2274-IA, February 1949)
- PURSUE Release 07: federal agents' triangle sighting and AAWSAP's working files
- UFOs: Past, Present, and Future