Latest: Release 07, Fri 23 Oct 2026Next release: estimated Fri 20 Nov 2026 (window 13 Nov to 4 Dec)

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THE UAP READING ROOM

Official U.S. government UAP file releases, archived, read and kept.

RELEASE 07 / DOW-UAP-D181

HISTORICAL SIGHTINGS

DOW-UAP-D181, Unresolved UAP Report, Catalina Island, 1949

File ID
DOW-UAP-D181
Agency
Department of War
Release
Release 07, 23 Oct 2026
Event date
4/28/1949 (read as 28 Apr 1949; precision: day)
Location
Catalina Island, California
Type
PDF
Redactions
None flagged

The official record

Official copy at war.gov
First page of the official copy

Official summary, as published

This file contains correspondence from Mr. Percy Wackey of Avalon, California to Mr. Kenneth Arnold of Boise, Idaho. Mr. Wackey relayed that his wife and another individual reported observing six objects over Catalina Island on the night of April 28, 1949. A handwritten annotation and contemporary documentation associated with the letter indicate a conclusion by the U.S. Air Force that the incident lacked sufficient data for evaluation.

Named in this file

1 name

People, programs and institutions from The Legacy Program research board whose names appear in this file, found by exact spelling against a hand-checked list. A match says only that the file names them, not what part they play. People and programs lists every file that names each one.

Our reading

HISTORICAL SIGHTINGS

A handwritten 1 May 1949 letter from an Avalon man to Kenneth Arnold in Boise: his wife and a school teacher saw six objects singly in the night sky on 28 April, and minutes later his wife, daughter and grandson saw four more, all going the same way. A routing card shows it reached Air Materiel Command from the 17th District at Kirtland Field in May 1949, annotated that the letter was not acknowledged; the conclusion is insufficient data.

Three separate measures, each with its reason. They are never added into a score.

E Evidence 1 of 3

A secondhand letter relaying sightings by family members and a teacher

N Novelty 2 of 3

Judged from the file; no earlier publication checked

L Linkage 2 of 3

A letter addressed to Kenneth Arnold that reached Air Materiel Command

People and programs

Tier C Kenneth Arnold person

Reading published 31 Oct 2026.

Our saved copy

Download our saved copy (DOW-UAP-D181_Unresolved_UAP_Report_Catalina_Island-1949.pdf)

One version seen. The checksum lets you confirm that a copy you hold is the one we saved.

  1. First seen

    361 KB (369,193 bytes)

    SHA-256 ef776d6b24b64d878ff3c3d2637e87121bfc1dcc152092ab81fc0f3391be6515