What did the declassified documents reveal?

Cold open. This is a declassified United States Air Force sighting report titled “1954‑04‑6781271‑Greenbrier‑West Virginia,” dated April nineteenth, nineteen fifty‑four. The document records a brief observation of an unidentified aerial phenomenon, notable for its description of a bright white and orange flame moving at high speed. Provenance. The record was released to the public through The Black Vault archive, uploaded as a digitized text file on the Internet Archive. The entry lists the document under the identifier 1954‑04‑6781271‑Greenbrier‑West Virginia and provides a direct URL to the source. No specific Freedom of Information Act case number is cited; the declassification authority is indicated as the United States Air Force, which authorized public release of the file. The document. The report begins with a series of coded headings and then proceeds to the observation details. I will read the text verbatim, preserving the original line breaks and formatting. Length of observation. Eleven. Brief summary and analysis. Fifteen seconds bright white and orange flame. Speed estimated in excess of percent type of observation. Probably meteor. Form F T D ser six three zero three two nine (T D E) previous editions of this form may be used. Action four Te Vax ght one four zero two ee two zero seven two five, i S A seven R T L S. T Y A number thirty‑five J E P H A B T S. P P J E D Y. D E J E P H Q eight A P two five one five four nine two ——~ F M E A U‑S A F Y A S H D C ed to chief A T I C Y right patter son Patterson A F E Ohio rol: A F O I N four three five one nine U‑F‑O A T T N C L N A T I A A two C F O L G M S C A E C D F D ‘P e b e e r k Fe Me o o s s e c t Tear L r n c B R I o u T United and Seanez ‘vua N E on comst thirty‑six percent deg true level at twenty‑two twenty degrees Celsius observed approximately forty‑five seconds. Estimated speed in excess seven ninety “P H X aircraft altitude nine nine two nine feet C U S thirty‑nine percent deg true at two nine nine zero three five seven x L D? K W sharer two three six degrees twenty‑seven U‑S N twenty‑five slash two nine two seven April J E P I – { f { f ( { C f – € ‘ t ( a h b k k w O L E bin i j e, a. Context. The Black Vault’s archival entry describes this file as a United States Air Force UFO sighting report from Greenbrier, West Virginia, recorded in April nineteen fifty‑four. The entry notes that the document is part of the Air Force’s historical UFO investigative records and that it was made publicly available as part of the agency’s broader declassification effort. Outro. This is what the public record looks like at its most ordinary. For the full document, visit storyflo.com and the archival URL at archive.org/download/1954-04-6781271-Greenbrier-WestVirginia/1954-04-6781271-Greenbrier-WestVirginiadjvu.txt.

Why was this case declassified?

This material was released by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) through the U.S. declassification and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process. The originating source document is linked on this page so the citation chain is auditable.

1954 04 6781271 Greenbrier Westvirginia

◆ BLUF — The short version

Cold open. This is a declassified United States Air Force sighting report titled “1954‑04‑6781271‑Greenbrier‑West Virginia,” dated April nineteenth, nineteen fifty‑four. The document records a brief observation of an unidentified aerial phenomenon, notable for its description of a bright white and orange flame moving at high speed.

Agency: Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
Date: JUL 18 · 2026
Release: Declassified · U.S. public record (FOIA)
Source document: View the primary source documenthttps://archive.org/details/1954-04-6781271-Greenbrier-WestVirginia

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Episode notes

Source document: https://archive.org/details/1954-04-6781271-Greenbrier-WestVirginia

Questions about this case

What was 1954 04 6781271 Greenbrier Westvirginia about?: Cold open. This is a declassified United States Air Force sighting report titled “1954‑04‑6781271‑Greenbrier‑West Virginia,” dated April nineteenth, nineteen fifty‑four. The document records a brief observation of an unidentified aerial phenomenon, notable for its description of a bright white and orange flame moving at high speed.
Why was this case declassified?: This material was released by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) through the U.S. declassification and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process. The originating source document is linked in the case notes above so the citation chain is fully auditable.

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1954 04 6781271 Greenbrier Westvirginia

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