On December 30, 1947, the United States Air Force (USAF) began the process of collecting and evaluating all facts related to flying saucers and other types of unidentified flying objects (UFOs). Between 1947 and 1969, 12,618 sightings were reported to the USAF program titled Project Blue Book, headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Scientists and … Continue reading Aliens at the Archives
Today, April 18, marks the 75th Anniversary of the Doolittle Raid. The mission, named for its organizer and leader James "Jimmy" Doolittle, caused minor damage to its targets, but accomplished a great deal by boosting the morale of Americans still affected by the attack at Pearl Harbor and early Japanese victories. Flying 16 US Army … Continue reading Commemorating the Doolittle Raid
For those working with archival films, encountering film scratches is just part of the job. At the National Archives we care for films that range from pristine camera negatives with not a scratch to be seen, all the way to beat-up projection prints that look like they were rubbed with sandpaper. Scratches can be black … Continue reading Film Preservation 101: Scratch Hazards and Fixes
"To fill the skies of France with fighting aircraft--that was America's tremendous task. What we did and what we have accomplished of that task is here fully revealed for the first time" reads an intertitle slate from the film Our Wings of Victory which highlights the production of American-made aircraft during World War I. World War I was … Continue reading Spotlight: “Our Wings of Victory,” the Manufacture of Military Aeroplanes During WWI
April 6 marks the 100th anniversary of the United States’ entry into World War I, as well as the culmination of a massive digitization project from the National Archives. Through a generous donation made by an anonymous donor, the National Archives was able to digitize over 110,000 photographs and nearly 300 reels of film related to … Continue reading Accessing World War I Photos in the Digital Age
