Jan L. Aldrich

Early Life and Military Service

Jan L. Aldrich was born April 14, 1944, and resides in Canterbury, Connecticut. He received a B.A. in history from the University of Maryland's University College, providing formal historical training that would define his research methodology. Aldrich served in the U.S. Army for more than 25 years in field artillery, earning seven overseas tours. His military career also included significant time in meteorology, intelligence, personnel, and safety positions—expertise that proved invaluable when analyzing early UFO reports involving pilot observations and atmospheric data.

Project 1947: Origins and Scope

In 1995, Aldrich founded Project 1947, a worldwide initiative dedicated to documenting the origins of the modern UFO phenomenon, particularly the historic 1947 UFO wave. Since its inception, Project 1947 has become one of the most systematically researched efforts in UFO history, funded collaboratively by the Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS), the Fund for UFO Research, and the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON).

Although Project 1947 takes its name from the pivotal 1947 wave, the project's scope extends chronologically in both directions—backward to pre-1942 aircraft encounters and forward through the early UFO era (1948–1965), with additional background material covering 1900–1946. This comprehensive approach allows researchers to contextualize 1947 within longer historical trends and patterns.

Methodology and Documentation Work

Aldrich's approach is distinguished by rigorous archival methodology. He has personally visited over 150 libraries, universities, archives, museums, and historical societies across 46 U.S. states and Canadian provinces, conducting primary-source research. This grassroots, on-site work reflects a commitment to original documentation rather than reliance on secondary sources.

Project 1947 has accumulated submissions from over 300 contributors worldwide, assembling more than 10,000 pages of personal accounts, newspaper clippings, contemporaneous reports, and government documents. Aldrich has also obtained unsanitized Blue Book files from the Maxwell Air Force Base microfilm collection, FOIA requests to Air Force headquarters at the National Archives, and various research archives. This combination of declassified government records, contemporary newspaper coverage, and eyewitness testimony provides a multi-layered documentary foundation.

Major Research Contributions

Aldrich's most significant published work is Project 1947: A preliminary report on the 1947 UFO Sighting Wave (1997), developed in collaboration with UFO historian Ted Bloecher. This report synthesizes the massive documentation effort into a coherent analysis of the 1947 wave, focusing particularly on the peak activity period in June and July. The report catalogs hundreds of incidents with attention to geographic patterns, temporal clustering, and corroborating witness testimony.

Beyond the formal report, Project 1947's website (project1947.com) provides extensive curated articles, case studies, and primary-source analysis. Topics include detailed examinations of specific significant sightings, military pilot testimony, radar-visual encounters, and government correspondence. His documented cases include naval vessel encounters, air force interceptions, and civilian sightings with multiple independent witnesses.

Aldrich's research has emphasized the seriousness with which the U.S. military initially approached 1947 reports, documenting military and intelligence community concern about the phenomenon before institutional dismissal set in. His work recovers this early investigative record from archives and FOIA releases, providing evidence for the historical claim that the phenomenon was taken seriously by aerospace and military officials.

Institutional Role and Credibility

Aldrich serves on the board and advisory panels of CUFOS, the leading institutional UFO research organization founded by J. Allen Hynek. This affiliation, along with his collaboration with MUFON and the Fund for UFO Research, positions him within mainstream UFO research institutional networks. His historical training and methodical documentation approach have earned him respect among both UFO researchers and serious students of unusual historical phenomena.

His work represents a shift in UFO historiography toward archival rigor—treating the subject matter seriously as historical documentation requiring primary-source verification, rather than dismissal or uncritical acceptance. The scale of Project 1947's documentation effort (10,000+ pages, 300+ contributors, 150+ archives visited) makes it one of the most comprehensive independent research projects in the history of UFO studies.

Impact and Legacy

Project 1947 has become a reference point for researchers investigating early UFO phenomena, government responses to the 1947 wave, and the historical origins of modern UFO historiography. Aldrich's work has been cited in academic discussions of anomalous phenomena, military historical analysis, and historical methodology applied to unusual events. His insistence on primary documentation and systematic archival practice has influenced subsequent UFO research efforts toward greater rigor and transparency.