Air Intelligence Information Report, Saudi Arabia, 1957

This document is an Air Intelligence Information Report (AIIR), a standardized U.S. Air Force reporting form used to record raw information of potential intelligence value for later analysis. The form served as a primary vehicle for U.S. Air Force field intelligence collection throughout the early Cold War, until defense-wide reporting standards were established in the early 1960s. This AIIR records a January 18, 1957, incident over Saudi Arabia in which the crew of a U.S. Air Force B-52 aircraft reported detecting an unidentified return on the aircraft’s gunnery scope for approximately five to seven minutes. The report characterizes the unidentified return as smaller than one produced by another B-52 operating in the area. All descriptive and estimative language contained in this report reflects the reporter’s subjective interpretation at the time of the event. Such characterizations should not be interpreted as a conclusive indication of the presence or absence of any intrinsic object features or performance characteristics.