New Microfilm and Features Added

30 April 2005

New Microfilm Added to the Archive


In total, nine new rolls of microfilm have been added to the archive including three rolls of National Archives Blue Book microfilm, three rolls of Project Sign microfilm, and three rolls of film added as part of a new catch-all category, "Other Official Microfilm".

NARA Blue Book Microfilm

T1206-88 OSI Chronological Files September 9, 1948 - August 31, 1949
T1206-89 OSI District Files 1949 - 1967
District 1 - Westover AFB, MA
District 2 - New York, NY
District 3 - Harrisburg, PA
T1206-94 Photographs Case File Nos. 4750 - 12615
OSI Files

Project Sign Microfilm

PS-1 Project Sign Roll 1 Incidents 1-73
PS-2 Project Sign Roll 2 Incidents 73-172
PS-3 Project Sign Roll 3 Incidents 172-178

Other Official Microfilm


AFOSR NICAP/CSI Roll 4

The NICAP/CSI microfilms were made by the Library of Congress under contract to the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR). This was done as part of a larger bibliographic project under the direction of Lynn Cateo.

Miscellaneous Blue Book Files Roll 1

This microfilm is thought to be information for the Air Force Public Information Office at the Pentagon. It is apparently a compilation of more than one reproduction request. (See Frame 623) Summaries of certain cases here were released to Donald E. Keyhoe in 1952-53 and were used in his book 'Flying Saucers from Outer Space.' This roll was given to Dr. Herbert Strentz in 1968 by Lt. Col. Hector Quintanilla to use in the preparation of his Ph.D. dissertation at the University of Colorado.

Air Force Clipping Service Roll 9

In 1952, the newly minted Project Blue Book (formerly Project Grudge) subscribed to a newspaper clipping service in an effort to expand their access to UFO sighting reports. Although initiated just five months earlier, the subscription service was terminated in September because the deluge of reports sent in during this period of unusually high reporting activity was beyond the resources of Blue Book to effectively manage. This problem was exacerbated by the fact that many of the reports provided by the newspaper clipping service were locally published versions of national newswire reports.

As with many other microfilm rolls not in the NARA collection, this roll was given to Dr. Herbert Strentz in 1968 by Lt. Col. Hector Quintanilla to use in the preparation of his Ph.D. dissertation at the Northwesten University.

New Features and Finding Aids

Microfilm Indices


The Blue Book index files have been integrated into the Archive's "Browse" interface. In addition, we are developing similar indices for the Project Sign and "Other Official Microfilm" collections. Special thanks go to Jan Aldrich and Tom DeMary for their effort in creating these incredibly useful indices.

Quick-Scan Thumbnail


To ease the arduous task of scanning through hundreds of frames looking for specific types of documents (e.g., forms, memos, etc.) we've developed a thumbnail preview system. When viewing a page within the archive you will now also see thumbnails of the previous two and next two pages in the film sequence. Used in conjunction with the "5-frame advance" navigational feature researchers can quickly scan through frames to locate specific types of documents.

FAQ/User Guide


Archive contributor Tom DeMary has generously provided new users with a FAQ/User Guide that addresses many issues and questions they are likely to encounter.

Additional New Features

  • Archive pages are now bookmark friendly
  • Added "Project News" page
  • Added downloadable PDF Documents page

Upcoming Microfilm Releases


Thanks to the generous support of the Fund for UFO Research (FUFOR) 10 rolls of un-redacted Blue Book microfilm is currently in processing and should be available in the coming month. Additionally, Italy's CISU is working to process 10 additional rolls of NARA Blue Book microfilm.

In addition to microfilm releases, we also have more features and finding aids in development to help researchers make productive use of archive content. As always, we will inform Archive mailing list members as new content and features are added.

How You Can Help


Although our curation interface is still in development you can still help the Blue Book Archive by providing financial support. If you are financially able we encourage you to make a donation via check or credit card using PayPal. Your generous donation will allow us to provide you with convenient access to microfilm documents more quickly than would otherwise be possible.

PayPal donations in support of the Blue Book Archive may be sent directly to our email address at:

archivist@bluebookarchive.org

Alternately, donations may be sent by visiting our donations page at:

http://www.bluebookarchive.org/documentation/support_bba.aspx

Please note that donations made to the Blue Book Archive are NOT tax deductible.

In addition to donations, you can also support the Archive by purchasing microfilm scans on CD-ROM. Each CD contains the original 400dpi scans of all images from one roll of microfilm as well as a convenient all-in-one searchable PDF suitable for printing. Unlike film, image scans can be enhanced with software to increase legibility and are easy to print and share via email with other researchers. Moreover, Archive CD-ROMs cost only $9.95- less than a third of the cost of microfilm ordered from the National Archives. To browse our e-commerce site use the link below: N/A