Call of Chicago: Project BLUE BOOK Talking Blues

— Jo Stafford, “You Belong to Me” (1963 cover version)

In March 1952, U.S. Air Force General Charles P. Cabell established Project BLUE BOOK, tasking its commander Captain Edward J. Ruppelt with investigation of the UFO phenomenon. BLUE BOOK was meant to collate, investigate, and analyze UFO sightings and encounters, but not to theorize about the nature or origin of the UFOs themselves. In February 1953, the USAF issued AF Regulation 200-2: USAF personnel may only discuss UFO cases if they have been resolved; unresolved cases receive a Classified security rating.

General Nathan Twining (commander of Air Materiel Command during the Roswell crash; Air Force Chief of Staff 1953-1957; Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff 1957-1960) removed unsolved UFO cases with a higher potential classification (those with national security implications or touching on intelligence operations) from BLUE BOOK entirely, to the 4602nd Air Intelligence Squadron — a.k.a. Project MOON DUST, which is to say, MAJESTIC-12. (After some bureaucratic convolutions, the 4602nd AISS becomes the 1127th Field Activities Group in 1960.) Twining thus de-fanged BLUE BOOK almost before it got started, reducing it to a mere public relations office.

Or did he? If Twining was in fact on the DELTA GREEN ExComm (FoDG, p. 164) he may have run a double bluff. BLUE BOOK still gets huge tranches of UFO data, including the first reports of cases transferred to MOON DUST. Not even MAJESTIC knows which UFO reports might turn out to be Unnatural cases, so BLUE BOOK often has a 24- or even 48-hour jump on them. Although infiltrating program assets into MOON DUST itself remains very risky, MAJESTIC depends on the Air Force and its Foreign Technology Division (FTD) to support its operations — and DELTA GREEN can still get agents into the MOON DUST support system. MOON DUST itself falls under ACS/I (Air Force Assistant Chief of Staff/Intelligence); use AFOSI Investigators (FoDG, p. 030) for program Agents in ACS/I. The program (and the Handler) can easily second FTD assets to BLUE BOOK work, either as a contrived punishment or in response to angry accusations of UFO coverups.

BLUE BOOK operates under the remit of the FTD, based out of Wright-Patterson AFB near Dayton, Ohio. The BLUE BOOK staff remains relatively small (roughly the size of the player group, as it happens), although every Air Force base has a designated BLUE BOOK officer to channel reports and to liaise with analysts and investigators.

Project BLUE BOOK Directors in the 1960s:

1958 – August 1963, Maj. Robert J. Friend
August 1963 – 1970, Maj. Hector Quintanilla

Foreign Technology Division

The U.S. Army began analyzing captured German aeronautical technology at Wright Field in 1917, and the USAAF did likewise in the Second World War, most notably perhaps the T-2 team at Wright Field that reverse-engineered a V-2 from crashed parts. Starting in 1944, Colonel Harold Watson headed units tasked to capture, salvage, or hunt down German aircraft and other items on the “Black List.” Even before V-E Day, Watson’s teams accelerated their efforts in Operation LUSTY, seizing prototypes and recruiting German engineers. Eventually LUSTY brought 16,000+ pieces, 200 scientists, and 1,500 tons of documents back to Wright Field; in 1951 under Watson’s general command, that collection became the core of the Air Technical Intelligence Center at the newly expanded Wright-Patterson AFB. Following the 1961 reorganization of military intelligence efforts that produced the DIA, the ATIC moved under the Air Force Systems Command as the Foreign Technology Division.

The mission of the FTD, and ATIC before it, is to obtain, assess, and analyze intelligence on foreign aircraft performance and technology. This incorporates traditional intelligence analysis, especially of aerial and satellite IMINT, as well as evaluation of foreign aircraft in flight tests at Wright-Patterson and (after 1962) at the Tonopah Test Range Airfield in Nevada. Beginning in 1968, FTD takes part in the HAVE DOUGHNUT MiG combat tests at Area 51. Needless to say, DELTA GREEN salivates at the possibility of inserting its agents into MAJESTIC turf like Area 51 on a “legitimate” basis. In addition to the main command at Wright-Patterson, FTD detachments operate from Edwards AFB in California, Ft. Belvoir VA, USAF HQ Europe (Wiesbaden), Yokota AB in Japan, and Buckley AFB in Colorado.

FTD Commanding Officers in the 1960s:

February 1961 – July 1964, Brig. Gen. Arthur J. Pierce
July 1964 – August 1966, Brig. Gen. Arthur W. Cruikshank, Jr.
August 1966 – November 1968, Col. Raymond S. Sleeper
November 1968 – July 1974, Col. George R. Weinbrenner

BLUE BOOK Investigator

11 Investigative, 18 General

You are a serving Air Force officer, but need not be on Active Duty. You can take either Pilot (FoDG, p. 027) or Soldier (FoDG, p. 028) as your previous Military Service template. Your Psychotherapy ability derives from your extraordinarily calming presence, useful when dealing with flying saucer cranks or suspicious MOON DUST officers.

Astronomy 1, Data Retrieval 1, Fringe Science 1, Reassurance 2

Bureaucracy 3, Psychotherapy 3

Pick Six Investigative: Agency 1, Cop Talk 1, Cryptography 1, Fringe Science 1*, HUMINT 1, Intimidation 1, Military Science 1, Notice 1, Photography 1, Physics 1, Reassurance 1*, SIGINT 1

Pick Four General: Bureaucracy 3*, Conceal 3, Pilot 3, Preparedness 3, Psychotherapy 3*, Sense Trouble 3, Stability 3, Stealth 3

FTD Analyst

10 Investigative, 16 General

Agency 1, Data Retrieval 1, Foreign Language (Russian) 1, Physics 1

Bureaucracy 2, Demolitions 2

Pick Six Investigative: Astronomy 1, Chemistry 1, Cryptography 1, Data Retrieval 1*, Foreign Language 1*, Fringe Science 1, HUMINT 1, Military Science 1, Photography 1, Physics 1*, Reassurance 1, SIGINT 1, Traffic Analysis 1

Pick Three General: Bureaucracy 4, Conceal 4, Demolitions 4*, Heavy Weapons 4, Mechanics 4, Pilot 4, Preparedness 4, Sense Trouble 4, Stability 4

FTD Recovery Specialist

You deploy anywhere in the world to recover crashed aircraft or aircrew, especially those hostile to the United States. Sometimes, you must investigate — or negotiate — to determine exactly what crashed, and where. You can use this template for DELTA GREEN Agents embedded in MOON DUST’s recovery program BLUE FLY, if you don’t mind a high-stakes campaign where exposure means “died in a training crash.”

Prerequisite: You must be on Active Duty with the USAF, but may use either Pilot or Soldier as your base template.

10 Investigative, 20 General

Agency 1, Chemistry 1, Foreign Language 1, Notice 2, Photography 1

Demolitions 3, Drive 3, Filch 3, Mechanics 3

Pick Four Investigative: Agency 1*, Anthropology 1, Astronomy 1, Chemistry 1*, Cryptography 1, Foreign Language 1*, Fringe Science 1, HUMINT 1, Interrogation 1, Intimidation 1, Negotiation 1, Notice 1*, Photography 1*, Physics 1, SIGINT 1, Survival 1, Tradecraft 1

Pick Two General: Athletics 4, Conceal 4, Demolitions 4*, Drive 4*, Firearms 4, Heavy Weapons 4, Mechanics 4*, Ride 4

FTD Test Pilot

With minimal tweaking, this template works for test pilots in other departments such as ARPA, CIA OSI, and NASA.

Prerequisite: Pilot template for your Military Service. You must be Active Duty.

8 Investigative, 31 General

Astronomy 1, Inspiration 1, Physics 1, SIGINT 1

Athletics 2, Health 3, Heavy Weapons 3, Pilot 3, Sense Trouble 4, Stability 4

Pick Four Investigative: Foreign Language 1, Fringe Science 1, Inspiration 1*, Military Science 1, Photography 1, SIGINT 1*, Survival 1

Pick Three General: Athletics 4*, Drive 4, First Aid 4, Health 4*, Heavy Weapons 4*, Mechanics 4, Pilot 4*, Sanity 4, Sense Trouble 4*, Stability 4*, Unarmed Combat 4

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The Fall of DELTA GREEN adapts DELTA GREEN: THE ROLE-PLAYING GAME to the GUMSHOE investigative roleplaying system, opening the files on a lost decade of anti-Mythos operations: the 1960s. Players take on the role of DELTA GREEN operatives, assets, and friendlies. Hunt Deep Ones beneath the Atlantic, shut down dangerous artists in San Francisco, and delve into the heart of Vietnam’s darkness. Purchase The Fall of DELTA GREEN in print and PDF at the Pelgrane Shop.