DoD: Manual outlines UFO photo/video handling procedures
The Defense Department published a comprehensive manual establishing protocols for managing photographic and video evidence of unidentified aerial phenomena. Military personnel received specific guidance on categorizing and archiving visual materials depicting UFOs. The documentation standards remained active despite the official termination of Project Blue Book decades earlier.
Background
In October 2002, the Department of Defense published directive 5040.6-M-1 concerning logic tables for visual information handling. This publication offered comprehensive guidance for military camera operators recording field imagery. The protocols covered accessioning visual records into defense archives.
A specific section addressed imagery of unidentified aerospace phenomena and anomalous aerial objects. This part established formal protocols for processing photographic and video evidence showing unknown craft. Materials required specific categorization before transfer to records facilities like the Defense Visual Information Center.
The existence of this document proved significant as it demonstrated continued military interest in UFO documentation decades after Project Blue Book concluded in 1969. The protocols remained valid until approximately 2005, when later revisions removed explicit UFO referencing. The exact circumstances of this removal remain unclear.