As any viewer of Fringe or The X-Files will tell you, the governments of the world know more about UFOs and alien life than they’re letting on. The party line may be that UFO sightings are mere misunderstandings and close encounters a fantasy, but not every government official agrees. We’ve rifled through tons of declassified government documents and turned up papers that prove the truth about UFOs is still out there.

Estimate of the Situation (1948)
Prepared by: The United States Air Force’s Project Sign
Contents: During its single year of existence, Sign investigated reports of UFO phenomena. Estimate of the Situation stated that, while the existence of alien saucers could be neither confirmed or denied, most Sign personnel believed that the extraterrestrial hypothesis was the most likely explanation for the phenomena. Since the technology reported by UFO observers was not currently available on Earth, it was likely of extraterrestrial origin, a possibility many in intelligence circles were willing to accept.
Proof of Alien Life? Critics of the Estimate note that the report does not cite any physical evidence of extraplanetary technology (although some claim that the report of physical evidence was censored). But the Air Force was worried enough about theEstimate that it was long suppressed, with officials denying that such a report ever existed. And when members of Sign continued to stand by their extraterrestrial hypothesis, the project was dissolved and its members assigned to other projects.

The Project Magnet Report (1952)
Prepared by: The Canadian Department of Transportation
Contents: The Department of Transportation set up Project Magnet to determine whether extraterrestrial vehicles could be exploiting the Earth’s magnetic field as a method of propulsion. The 1952 Project Magnet report rejected the idea that UFO sightings could be explained as balloons, conventional aircraft, or optical illusions. Given the apparent size and technological capabilities of the crafts, the report concluded:

It appears then, that we are faced with a substantial probability of the real existence of extra-terrestrial vehicles, regardless of whether or not they fit into our scheme of things. Such vehicles of necessity must use a technology considerably in advance of what we have. It is therefore submitted that the next step in this investigation should be a substantial effort towards the acquisition of this technology, which would without doubt be of great value to us.

Proof of Alien Life? Two days after Project Magnet’s observational facility recorded what it believed to be gravimetric variation consistent with an alien vehicle, the Canadian Department of Transportation abruptly ended the program in light of unwanted publicity. The DOT claimed it was because the research was turning up nothing new, but it could be because its secret project wasn’t so secret anymore.

Project Blue Book Special Report No. 14 (1954)
Prepared by: The US Air Force’s Project Blue Book
Contents: After the dissolution of Project Sign and its UFO-debunking successor Project Grudge, Project Blue Book was tasked with the Air Force’s investigation into UFO phenomena. Special Report No. 14 classified various UFO phenomena and described the characteristics between known phenomena – which Blue Book could explain – and “unknown” phenomena, which it could not. Most significantly, the report explains that the reports in unknown phenomena are, in fact, highly detailed and tend to feature an unusually large number of witnesses who are especially competent to report on such phenomena (such as airline pilots and military personnel), as well as corroborating evidence, such as photographs and radar contact. The report indicated that 22% of the cases were unknown.
Proof of Alien Life? The Air Force tried to downplay the percentage of unknowns, and even claimed the report proved that UFOs were not extraterrestrial in origin. But some critics found the high number of well-reported unknowns alarming. Project Blue Book would continue investigating reports of UFOs until 1969, when the Air Force ended its research into UFO phenomena.

UFO Hypothesis and Survival Questions (1968)
Prepared by: The US National Security Agency
Contents: This document explores and rejects the hypotheses that all UFO sightings can be explained as either hoaxes, hallucinations, natural phenomena, or secret Earth projects. It goes on to discuss the implications of extraterrestrial life forms visiting Earth, noting that if UFOs are extraterrestrial in origin, these close encounters could herald humanity’s eventual conquest. It even goes so far as to list how a technologically inferior species could survive and maintain its identity in the face of an alien conqueror. The bottom line is that not knowing the origin of these phenomena presents a risk to national (and perhaps global) security, and that the US should treat the investigation into UFO phenomena with the same urgency that one would treat a cry of “rattlesnake”:

Investigation would become an intensive emergency action to isolate the threat and to determine it’s precise nature – It would be geared to developing adequate defensive measures in a minimum amount of time. It would seem a little more of this survival attitude is called for in dealing with the UFO problem.

Proof of Alien Life? The NSA has stated that this document should not be taken as evidence of the NSA’s belief in alien life, but it does indicate that it does suggest that at least some at the NSA were open to the possibility and believed were deeply disturbed that these potentially dangerous phenomena were left unexplained.

Tehran Incident Documents (1976-1978)
Prepared by: The US Department of Defense and Captain Henry S. Shields, HQ USAFE/INOMP
Contents: The article provides and account of the 1976 Tehran UFO incident, when two F-4 Phantom jet fighters were sent to investigate reports of a UFO spotted over Tehran. Each F-4 lost instrument and communication capability as it approached the object, only to find them restored once they retreated. One F-4 attempted to fire on the object, but its weapons systems malfunctioned. The object did not appear on any surveillance instruments, although several visual sightings did occur. In a classified article for MIJI Quarterly on the incident, Captain Shields writes:

No additional information or explanation of the strange events has been forthcoming; the story will be filed away and probably forgotten, but it makes interesting, and possibly disturbing, reading.

Proof of Alien Life? One of the pilots certainly thought so. Parviz Jafari of the Imperial Iranian Air Force has publicly demanded a worldwide investigation into UFO phenomena as a result of his encounter. The Iranian Air Force Deputy Commander, Lieutenant General Abdollah Azarbarzin reported the incident to the US Military Assistance Advisory Group in Tehran, stating that the UFO outperformed any known human aircraft. This is just one of many reported encounters that the US government has not been able to explain.

CIA Officials Conducting “Unofficial” Research (1976)
Prepared by: Individuals within the US CIA’s Domestic Collection Division
Contents: In response to a request for information on CIA UFO research, someone within the CIA wrote that some within the agency monitor and investigate UFO phenomena, albeit on an unofficial basis:

It does not seem that the government has any formal program in progress for the identification/solution of the UFO phenomena. Dr [censored] feel that the efforts of independent researchers, [censored], are vital for further progress in this area. At the present time, there are offices and personnel within the Agency who are monitoring the UFO phenomena, but again, this is not currently on an official basis. Dr [censored] feels that the best approach would be to keep in touch with and in fact develop reporting channels in this area to keep the Agency/community informed of any new developments. In particular, any information which might indicate a threat potential would be of interest, as would specific indications of foreign developments or applications of UFO related research.

A second letter confirms that the DCD was, in fact, collecting UFO-related information:

At a recent meeting to evaluate some material from [censored] you mentioned a personal interest in the UFO phenomenon. As you may recall, I mentioned my own interest in the subject as well as the fact that DCD had been receiving UFO related material from many of our S&T sources who are presently conducting related research. These scientists include some who have been associated with the Agency for years and who credentials remove them from the “nut variety.”

Proof of Alien Life? Any information related to UFO phenomena in these documents is censored, but it indicates that many CIA employees and contractors were working to better understand the UFO phenomena, even if their work wasn’t officially on the books.

The CIA’s Role in the Study of UFOs, 1947-90 (2002)
Prepared by: Gerald Haines, official CIA historian
Content: In an article for Studies in Intelligence, Haines outlines the CIA’s involvement in UFO research. The CIA admits that it had conducted UFO research independent of the Air Force’s research, that it continued this research after the dissolution of Project Blue Book (which the CIA had a hand in), and that the Agency had deliberately concealed its interest in UFO phenomena from the public.
Proof of Alien Life? The article claims that the Agency maintained only a “low-key interest” in UFOs, which largely waned after the Cold War. It did admit, however, that some individuals within the CIA did take an active interest in the “parapsychology and psychic phenomena associated with UFO sightings.”

Comprehensive Catalog of 1,500 Project Blue Book UFO Unknowns (2003)
Prepared by: Fund for UFO Research (FUROR), based on Blue Book catalog
Content: Although not itself a government document, this document lists the 1,500 declassified UFO reports that Project Blue Book was unable to explain, as well as notes from Blue Book members (it is worth noting that FUROR and Project Blue Book use different criteria, and that Blue Book itself reported only 701 unknowns by its dissolution).
Proof of Alien Life? As with many Blue Book reports, the catalog provides no actual evidence of extraterrestrial life, but only suggests that some incidents require further investigation.