FBI-UAP-D011, D/FBI Correspondence Referral, 1949

Official Conclusion

Forwarded for information; no official determination made. Barnes suggested possible military or AEC scientific experiment.

Official Description

This collection of documents contains correspondence between the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), J. Edgar Hoover, and Rev. Charles Barnes concerning Barnes’ account of an incident potentially involving unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP). Rev. Barnes described observing four beams of light “converging in the Cascade Mountains,” at an altitude of approximately 10,000 feet, with a “great explosion” visible at the convergence point of those beams for at least ten minutes. Director Hoover replied to Rev. Barnes thanking him for his letter and informing him that he had forwarded it to the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). Director Hoover conveyed to the AEC that Rev. Barnes believed that the event may relate to a military or scientific experiment within the commission’s purview.

Key Findings

• →Reverend Charles C. Barnes reported observing four narrow beams of light in the sky passing northwest to southeast, converging over the Cascade Mountains with a visible explosion effect lasting approximately 10 minutes in May 1948.
• →The explosion effect was estimated to rise to approximately 10,000 feet in altitude.
• →Barnes speculated the phenomenon may have been a scientific experiment involving radio beams to effect rainfall, referencing pre-war European experiments.
• →FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover forwarded the information to the Atomic Energy Commission and to the Director of Special Investigations, Department of the Air Force, under the subject heading 'AERIAL PHENOMENA.'
• →Hoover's CONFIDENTIAL memo was directed to Rear Admiral John E. Gingrich, Director of Security and Intelligence, AEC, and copied to the Inspector General of the Air Force at the Pentagon.

Extracted Entities