UNCLASSIFIED // PUBLIC RELEASERELEASE 01 · MAY 8, 2026
PENTAGON UFO FILE · DOCUMENTState Department UAP Cable 001, Papua New Guinea, January 28, 1985
This short cable, sent by the American embassy in Port Moresby, dated 28 January 1985, shows a small country asking the United States whether it had been flying military aircraft over its territory. It was sent to the U.S. Pacific Command in Honolulu, with copies to the State Department, the embassies in Canberra and Jakarta, and a B-52 bomber wing on Guam.
What was reported
According to the cable, Papua New Guinea’s National Intelligence Organization made an informal inquiry about high-altitude, high-speed aircraft seen over the country on the evening of 24 January. It had come to light when the intelligence officer in Wewak reported that local people had been frightened by the overflights, prompting the provincial premier to call a public meeting that the prime minister attended.
The reports included fast-moving lights, contrails and noise. The one the intelligence service took most seriously came from an Air Niugini pilot who had just left Wewak for Port Moresby and said his radar showed aircraft flying south to north at high altitude and speed near Angoram. Others reported contrails: one aircraft heading north to south early in the evening and six to eight heading south to north later.
The U.S. response
The embassy told the Papua New Guineans that, based on its records and a call to the bomber wing, it knew of no B-52 or other U.S. aircraft in their airspace that night. It called the information “very sketchy,” noted that witnesses were unsure of directions, and asked Pacific Command to confirm. No answer is included.
The official description
From war.gov/UFO, released May 8, 2026, quoted in full
This document is a U.S. Department of State diplomatic cable from the U.S. Embassy in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea to USCINCPAC (United States Indo-Pacific Command) at Honolulu, HI on January 28, 1985. The cable reports that the U.S. Embassy to Papua New Guinea received an inquiry from the host nation’s intelligence services regarding reports of high-altitude, high-speed aircraft in Papua New Guinean airspace on the evening of January 24, 1985. The cable refers to a representative of the local intelligence services as “NIO,” or National Intelligence Officer, throughout. The NIO relayed to U.S. diplomatic personnel that residents had been “frightened by overflights, which led to the provincial premier’s calling of a public meeting on the subject.” The NIO also stated there had been “various reports of unidentified aerial phenomena the night of January 24, including fast-moving objects with lights, contrails, and noise.” The NIO assessed these reports as credible based upon the testimony of an Air Niugini pilot who said that their radar had “picked up aircraft flying south to north at high altitude and high speed.” The cable concludes by characterizing the information provided by the NIO as “very sketchy.” It also sought clarification from U.S. INDOPACOM on the presence or absence of U.S. military aircraft within Papua New Guinean airspace on the night in question.