State Department UFO Memos and Cables (1952–2004) – PURSUE Files

This group brings together State Department records. Two older memos come from National Archives Record Group 59: a July 1952 memo written during the Washington, D.C. flap, and a July 1963 memo from the National Aeronautics and Space Council discussing “the space alien race question.” Five later embassy cables report UFO-related events in Papua New Guinea (1985), over Kazakhstan (1994), in Georgia (2001), in Turkmenistan (2004) and in Mexico.^[1]

The records

59_64634_711.5612[7-2852

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This two page memorandum, dated July 28, 1952, relates to increased reports of unidentified flying objects (UFOs). Included in the record are possible explanations of increased sightings, such as technological improvements, historical records of UFOs, and U.S. Air Force opinions on UFOs.

— Official PURSUE description

59_214434_SP 16 [7.18.1963]

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This memorandum, dated July 18, 1963, from the Executive Office of the President, National Aeronautics and Space Council, relates to thoughts on the space alien race question. Included are details relating to plans if alien intelligence is discovered, expanding scientific knowledge, the possibility of life on Mars, and diplomatic policy.

— Official PURSUE description

State Department UAP Cable 001, Papua New Guinea, January 28, 1985

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This document is a U.S. Department of State diplomatic cable from the U.S. Embassy in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea to USCINCPAC (United States Indo-Pacific Command) at Honolulu, HI on January 28, 1985.
The cable reports that the U.S. Embassy to Papua New Guinea received an inquiry from the host nation’s intelligence services regarding reports of high-altitude, high-speed aircraft in Papua New Guinean airspace on the evening of January 24, 1985. The cable refers to a representative of the local intelligence services as “NIO,” or National Intelligence Officer, throughout. The NIO relayed to U.S. diplomatic personnel that residents had been “frightened by overflights, which led to the provincial premier’s calling of a public meeting on the subject.” The NIO also stated there had been “various reports of unidentified aerial phenomena the night of January 24, including fast-moving objects with lights, contrails, and noise.” The NIO assessed these reports as credible based upon the testimony of an Air Niugini pilot who said that their radar had “picked up aircraft flying south to north at high altitude and high speed.”
The cable concludes by characterizing the information provided by the NIO as “very sketchy.” It also sought clarification from U.S. INDOPACOM on the presence or absence of U.S. military aircraft within Papua New Guinean airspace on the night in question.

— Official PURSUE description

State Department UAP Cable 002, Kazakhstan, January 31, 1994

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This document is a U.S. Department of State diplomatic cable from the U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe, Tajikistan to the Secretary of State in Washington, D.C. on January 31, 1994.
On January 27, 1994 one Tajik pilot and three American citizens encountered an UAP flying a 747 jet at 41,000 feet over Kazakhstan. Object was a bright light of enormous intensity and approached over the horizon to the east at great speed and a much higher altitude. Several pictures were taken of the craft making 90 degree turns, doing corkscrews and maneuvering in circles a great rates of speed. Object was reported as resembling a bullet in flight. Visual estimation of the contrails were at 100,000 feet, which was too high to leave contrails by ordinary aircraft.

— Official PURSUE description

State Department UAP Cable 003, Tbilisi, Georgia, October 30, 2001

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On October 28-29, there was an incident alleged by the Georgian Foreign Ministry that Russian aircraft had violated Georgian airspace and bombed areas of the Kodori Gorge. Russians denied any of the claims and said that it could have been UFOs. Cable authors note that Russians typically engage in the “bold lie” when they wish to conceal actions.

— Official PURSUE description

State Department UAP Cable 004, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, November 5, 2004

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UFOlogists of Turkmenistan has gained a positive reputation as a reliable partner for the United States in Turkmenistan to the bemusement of the cable’s author in the build up of civil society organizations within the country. The reputation has become earned because everyone in Turkmenistan, apparently, “is interested in UFOs.”

— Official PURSUE description

State Department UAP Cable 005, Mexico, September 16, 2003

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On September 12, 20023 the Mexican Congress heard testimony on UAP from experts related to the debate about an Aerial Space Protection Law, which, if approved, would make Mexico the first country to formally acknowledge the presence of alien life on earth. Experts asked legislators to recognize UAP, guarantee airspace security, and allow UAP to be studied. They presented to alleged alien corpses and videos of Mexican pilot’s encounters with fast-moving flying objects during flight. Disagreement about the efficacy and validity of the purported alien corpses.

— Official PURSUE description

Analysis

The cables, case by case.

• Papua New Guinea, 1985: local intelligence asked the U.S. Embassy about high-altitude, high-speed aircraft in its airspace. Unidentified military aircraft (U.S., Soviet or Australian) are the most likely explanation; the cable records a query, not an investigation.
• Kazakhstan, 1994: a 747 crew and three American passengers at 41,000 feet photographed a very bright light making sharp turns and corkscrews. The region is near Baikonur, and rocket launches seen from high altitude often produce glowing, expanding exhaust plumes that appear to maneuver; that is the leading explanation, though the cable does not mention a launch.
• Georgia, 2001: Russia answered accusations that its aircraft bombed the Kodori Gorge by suggesting “UFOs” were responsible. The cable’s authors treat this as a “bold lie,” a political excuse, not a UFO report.
• Turkmenistan, 2004: a lighthearted cable about a local UFO society becoming a reliable civil-society partner because “everyone in Turkmenistan” was interested in UFOs.
• Mexico: reports on Mexican congressional testimony about UAP, alleged alien corpses and pilot videos. The content matches the September 2023 hearing organized around Jaime Maussan‘s “mummies,” though the official title and description give 2003; this appears to be a date error in the database. The “corpses” have been widely judged by scientists to be assembled from human and animal remains.

The 1963 NASC memo shows government planners considering, in general terms, how to handle the discovery of alien intelligence (scientific, diplomatic and public-affairs angles). It reflects early-1960s space policy thinking, similar to the 1960 Brookings Institution study, rather than any actual contact.^[2]

New or previously released? The two National Archives memos were available to researchers; the five embassy cables appear to be newly public.

Released files

See also

• U.S. Department of State
• National Aeronautics and Space Council
• Mexican Congress “Alien Mummies”
• Bahia, Brazil crash claim (1963)
• PURSUE Release 01 (May 8, 2026) overview
• PURSUE

References

1. ^ U.S. Department of War (2026). PURSUE Release 01 (May 8, 2026): 59_64634_711.5612[7-2852, 59_214434_SP 16 [7.18.1963], State Department UAP Cable 001, State Department UAP Cable 002, State Department UAP Cable 003, State Department UAP Cable 004, State Department UAP Cable 005, with official descriptions. war.gov/ufo.
2. ^ Brookings Institution (1960). Proposed Studies on the Implications of Peaceful Space Activities for Human Affairs, report to NASA.