Credible Theories
ProfileSources (3)Mentioned in (2)
ER1923–1960
Person · Historical

Edward Ruppelt

First director of the US Air Force's Project Blue Book

Born
July 17, 1923
Died
September 15, 1960
Post
Head of Project Blue Book, 1952–1953
Known for
Popularizing the term 'unidentified flying object'
Book
The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects (1956)

Air Force officer who led Project Blue Book in 1952–53 and is credited with making 'unidentified flying object' the official term.

What is Edward Ruppelt known for?

Edward J. Ruppelt was a decorated World War II bombardier who earned an aeronautical engineering degree and returned to the Air Force as an intelligence officer. He headed the Air Force's UFO investigation, renamed Project Blue Book, from 1952 into 1953.

Ruppelt is credited with introducing 'unidentified flying object' as the official term in place of 'flying saucer'. During the July 1952 Washington, D.C., sightings, President Truman's Air Force aide phoned him, and he suggested temperature inversions as a possible cause. Even some critics of the Air Force regard his time as Blue Book's most careful period.

After leaving the service he wrote 'The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects' (1956), an insider account that first publicly revealed the existence of the CIA's 1953 Robertson Panel. He expanded it in 1960 and died of a heart attack that year, aged 37. Blue Book continued until 1969, logging 12,618 reports, 701 of them listed as unidentified.

Why it is on Credible Theories

Ran Project Blue Book and took the White House call during the 1952 Washington sightings.

Mentioned on these pages

Sources

  1. National Archives, 'Unidentified Flying Objects - Project BLUE BOOK'Primary text
  2. Gerald K. Haines, 'CIA's Role in the Study of UFOs, 1947-90', Studies in Intelligence (CIA)Primary text
  3. Wikipedia, 'Edward J. Ruppelt'Reference

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