Project Blue Book Did Authenticate UFO Photos Afterall

To begin, let me quote project Blue Book.

As a result of these investigations and studies and experience gained from investigating UFO reports since 1948, the conclusions of Project BLUE BOOK are (1) no UFO reported, investigated, and evaluated by the Air Force has ever given any indication of threat to our national security;(2) there has been no evidence submitted to or discovered by the Air Force that sightings categorized as "unidentified" represent technological developments or principles beyond the range of present-day scientific knowledge; and(3) there has been no evidence indicating that sightings categorized as "unidentified" are extraterrestrial vehicles

Project Blue Book

Now in this 1967 case that most here are certainly aware of, I found these 4 newspaper archives.

Photos Of UFO Appear Genuine Expert Says - Pittsburgh Post Gazette

An Air Force consultant said yesterday that photographs taken by Dan and Grant Jaroslaw appear real, support other sightings

Hamburger Shaped Object Appears As Authentic UFO - The Morning Record

UFO Expert Says Photos Authentic - The Herald Journal

Weight Lent To UFO Pictures - The St Petersburg Times

One of the nations leading experts on unidentified flying objects said yesterday that photographs of a flying saucer near here last week are apparently authentic.

Ok now on to a little bit of history. The leading expert is Dr Allen J Hynek chairman of the astronomy department of the Northern University. And he is also a scientific advisor to the Air Forces Project Blue Book. Dr. Hynek even commented about how those photos were similar to others reported to have the same antenna and tail end. Later Project Blue Book stated that there were never any similar UFO sightings. So who lied?

The case that I am referencing pertains to the St Clair Michigan photos from January 1967. Two teenage boys by the name of Dan and Grant Jaroslaw, captured 4 photos of a UFO in their back yard. There was also a fifth photo of an Air Force helicopter in the area at the same time. I will include some photos at the bottom of my thread.

Now why is it years later when project Blue Book was released to the public, those photos were "no longer authentic"? The evidence that they had back in 1967 was good enough for at least 4 (and likely many more) newspapers to sensationalize this. Now I am aware that they never got the originals, but these were polaroid snapshots. The copies were subjected to several tests. And the photos also have many points of reference. "There is definitely nothing holding it up". What also adds to the photos credibility is that 4 shots were taken in succession.

What's odd is that I found the newspaper articles first and said, "hey project Blue Book said that nothing was authenticated". Then later I found mention of other folks criticizing their findings. But were they aware of the newspaper articles stating that they were authenticated already? Anyways, I found this within minutes of a generic search. So now, I wonder how many other cases are out there?








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Perhaps this requires even further investigation and will be added to my "to do" list. I would like to find the 2 men and their original photos.

Hi .
Nice opening post .
The point we should all remember when researching cases like this , is the wording . I'll explain .
Yes the photographs might have been proven to be genuine ( no touch ups etc ) , but there is absolutely no way to prove the object was real . It could simply be an object that was thrown into the air by one of the boys .

Genuine photograph does not mean genuine object .

Regards .

Originally posted by Gideon70

Genuine photograph does not mean genuine object .

Not only that a genuine object dosent infer visiting aliens.

Originally posted by elouina
Now why is it years later when project Blue Book was released to the public, those photos were "no longer authentic"?

Because, according to the Air Force files, "detailed investigation of copies of the original indicated a possible hoax".

There are 85 pages on this case in the Air Force files, including details of that investigation.

See the two sets of records at the links below:
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There's a lot of information available in the Air Force files on many cases that you will not find in press reports (and, sometimes, vice versa...).

It seems that the Air Force was right to suspect a hoax. See:
guides.wikinut.com...

In 1976 Ufologist Dr J Allen Hynek received a letter from the brothers admitting the photos were fakes. Dan admitted to making a model of the flying saucer and suspended it on thread and poles - the weather at the time hid the thread in the photo.

Originally posted by elouina
But were they aware of the newspaper articles stating that they were authenticated already? Anyways, I found this within minutes of a generic search. So now, I wonder how many other cases are out there?

Hynek said he was misquoted when AP reported that Hynek stated the photographs were apparently authentic.

Press reports have to be taken with a pinch of salt.

The quality of media reporting of issues relating to UFO reports is often, um, not very good.

reply to post by IsaacKoi


To play devil's advocate, critics will argue such hoaxes are staged confessions to discredit sightings and/or protect witnesses from government pressure to keep quiet. With that said, if they are hoaxes, they did a good job. I mean seriously, look at the photos! Detailed crafts and everything.

reply to post by IsaacKoi


Well, ater I posted this, I later found mention of the letter sent to Dr Hynek also. But are they 100% certain that letter was sent by Dan and Grant? Or was there even a letter sent in the first place? I will have to take a look at those links you mentioned to find the letter. Thank you.

The pics posted in OP definitely look like the early USAF prototypes that I believe were officially scrapped, that's not to say that Blue Book didn't authenticate some UFO pics, I mean after all, Hynek finally found the truth after his time with Blue Book

Originally posted by elouina
I will have to take a look at those links you mentioned to find the letter.

The letter admitting the hoax isn't at those links, only a very brief mention of it.

I don't think the full text of the letter is available anywhere online at present, so it may be helpful for me to upload a scan of a relevant page from Allan Hendry's book "UFO Handbook" which gives the text of the letter sent to Hynek by the two brothers. Hendry worked with Hynek at the CUFOS ufo group and his book is, unusually, generally well respected by both believers and skeptics. The letter itself is (or was a few years ago) available in the files of CUFOS.



There used to a relatively detailed item about this case on The Temporal Doorway website. Unfortunately, that website is now defunct. I've found the relevant item via the Wayback Machine's Internet Archive at:
web.archive.org...://www.temporaldoorway.com/ufo/analysis/mountclemens/index.htm

When the Jaroslaw UFO photographs were described by Dr. J. Allen Hynek as authentic, it caused a media frenzy. Project Blue Book, the Invisible College, the Condon UFO Study, and CIA photo analysts were involved in the investigation. Despite what was proven, the case was closed: "insufficient data."

A snapshot of UFO history from The Saucers That Time Forgot:
Dr. Hynek and the UFO Photo Investigation of 1967

ET advances technology at the same time and rate as humans do. An antenna should be a dead give away that it's fake. You don't see antennas with today's photographs.