Overview
Open Minds Magazine’s recent investigative report, hosted by journalist Alejandro Rojas, examines the discrepancy between the United States military’s public claim that formal UFO investigations ended with Project Blue Book in 1969 and a growing body of internal documents that suggest otherwise. The report argues that while the Air Force ceased public data collection, a separate, classified reporting infrastructure continued to process sightings deemed relevant to national security. This dual‑track system, the researchers contend, has allowed the Pentagon to monitor “unidentified aerial phenomena” (UAP) without public disclosure.
Evidence of Parallel Reporting Channels
The investigation cites several declassified memos and manuals that directly contradict the official narrative of disinterest. The most frequently referenced is the Bolender Memo of 1969, authored by Brigadier General Carroll H. Bolender, which instructed that any UFO report with potential security implications be routed through JANAP 146 and Air Force Manual 55‑11, deliberately bypassing Project Blue Book. Further, the Communication Instructions for Reporting Vital Intelligence Sightings (CIRVIS)—found in both NSA archives and Canadian defense records—list “unidentified flying objects” as a distinct reporting category, obligating pilots to submit immediate alerts. In 2011, journalist Lee Speigel observed that a section of Air Force Instruction 10‑206 detailing pilot reporting procedures for UAPs was removed from the official website, a change he described as “the vanishing of the rulebook.” Researchers Paul Dean and John Greenwald Jr. also point to OPREP‑3, the operational reporting system used for high‑priority incidents, which includes a “Pinnacle” designation that routes alerts directly to the National Military Command Center and, ultimately, the White House.
Notable Incidents Processed Through the Classified System
The report highlights two historically documented encounters that were reportedly handled via OPREP‑3. In 1975, unidentified objects lingered over Loring Air Force Base in Maine—a nuclear‑armed installation—for three consecutive nights. Although the FBI and Air Force investigated, the incident was logged as an OPREP‑3 entry, reflecting its sensitivity due to proximity to nuclear assets. A second case occurred in 1978 at the Pinecastle Electronic Warfare Range in Florida, where radar operators tracked an object moving at 400–500 knots. This sighting was recorded as an OPREP‑3 Navy Blue report, indicating a high‑level military alert. Both events illustrate how the armed services have historically reserved a distinct reporting pathway for UAPs that intersect with critical defense infrastructure.
Key Figures Behind the Disclosure Effort
Several investigators have been instrumental in uncovering these hidden channels. John Greenwald Jr., founder of The Black Vault, leveraged Freedom of Information Act requests to obtain copies of the relevant manuals and memos. Lee Speigel, a veteran researcher formerly with the Huffington Post, documented the abrupt deletion of the UFO reporting rule from Air Force Instruction 10‑206, describing it as “a clear sign of institutional suppression.” Paul Dean, an Australian researcher, has mapped the OPREP‑3 system’s structure and its “Pinnacle” classification, arguing that it functions as a “black‑board” for the most serious aerial sightings. Together with Brigadier General Carroll H. Bolender, whose 1969 memo provides the earliest known reference to a separate reporting track,
