Declassified UAP

State Department UAP Cable 001, Papua New Guinea, January 28, 1985

Format
Document, 3 pages
Incident date
1/24/85
Released
Release 01, May 8, 2026
Source
war.gov
Topics
Radar, Military aircrew, Diplomatic cables

Description from war.gov

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.

3 pages, 443 words of text

Page 1

UNCLASSIFIED CSP-2025-00040 B-00002707027 "UNCLASSIFIED" 3/2/2026 UNCLASSIFIED MRN: Date/DTG: From: Action: E.O.: TAGS: Reference: Subject: 85 PORT MORESBY 199 Jan 28, 1985 / 280000Z Jan 85 AMEMBASSY PORT MORESBY USCINCLANT ROUTINE Unknown MARR, PP n/a PAPUA NEW GUINEA INQUIRY RE OVERFLIGHTS LIMITED OFFICIAL USE PAGE 01 ACTION PM-11 PORT M 00199 280704Z INFO OCT-00 COPY-01 ADS-00 INR-10 SS-00 CIAE-00 DODE-00 NSAE-00 EAP-00 /022 W -_--026406 280708Z /12 O 280653Z JAN 85 FM AMEMBASSY PORT MORESBY TO USCINCPAC HONOLULU HI IMMEDIATE INFO 43SW ANDERSON AFB GU IMMEDIATE SECSTATE WASHDC 1694 AMEMBASSY CANBERRA AMEMBASSY JAKARTA LIMITED OFFICIAL USE PORT MORESBY 00199 USCINCPAC FOR J3 AND POLAD 43 SW FOR DONO STATE FOR EAP/PIA AND PM/RSA E.O. 12356: N/A TAGS: MARR, PP SUBJECT: PAPUA NEW GUINEA INQUIRY RE OVERFLIGHTS 1. EMBASSY JANUARY 28 RECEIVED INFORMAL INQUIRY FROM PNG NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE ORGANIZATION (NIO) CONCERNING REPORTED SIGHTINGS OF HIGH-ALTITUDE, HIGH-SPEED AIRCRAFT OVER PNG DURING EVENING JANUARY 24. MATTER CAME TO NIO'S ATTENTION WHEN ITS OFFICER IN WEWAK REPORTED LOCAL RESIDENTS HAD BEEN FRIGHTENED BY OVERFLIGHTS, WHICH LED TO THE PROVINCIAL PREMIER'S CALLING OF A PUBLIC MEETING ON THE SUBJECT ATTENDED BY THE PRIME MINISTER WHO WAS WEEKENDING IN HIS ELECTORAL DISTRICT. Released in Full John Powers, Acting-Director US Department of State 2/25/2026 UNCLASSIFIED Page 1 of 3

Page 2

UNCLASSIFIED CSP-2025-00040 B-00002707027 "UNCLASSIFIED" 3/2/2026 2. NIO SAID THERE HAVE BEEN VARIOUS REPORTS OF UNIDENTIFIED AERIAL PHENOMENA THE NIGHT OF JANUARY 24, INCLUDING FAST-MOVING OBJECTS WITH LIGHTS, CONTRAILS, LIMITED OFFICIAL USE LIMITED OFFICIAL USE PAGE 02 PORT M 00199 280704Z AND NOISE. THE REPORT IN WHICH NIO PLACES SOME CREDENCE ORIGINATED WITH AN AIR NIUGINI PILOT WHO HAD JUST TAKEN OFF FROM WEWAK ENROUTE PORT MORESBY. PILOT SAID HIS RADAR PICKED UP AIRCRAFT FLYING SOUTH TO NORTH AT HIGH ALTITUDE AND HIGH SPEED WHEN HE WAS OVER ANGORAM (VIC 4 DEG S, 144 DEG E). SEVERAL VISUAL SIGHTINGS OF CONTRAILS WERE ALSO REPORTED FROM VARIOUS POINTS AROUND PNG, OF ONE AIRCRAFT MOVING NORTH TO SOUTH AT 1900 LOCAL AND OF SIX-EIGHT AIRCRAFT TRAVELING SOUTH TO NORTH AT 3. BASED ON OUR RECORDS AND TELCON WITH 43SW, WE HAVE TOLD NIO WE KNEW OF NO B-52 OVERFLIGHTS AND NO U.S. AIRCRAFT IN PNG AIRSPACE ON JANUARY 24. 4. ALTHOUGH INFORMATION PROVIDED US ON THESE SIGHTINGS IS VERY SKETCHY AND SOURCES WERE UNSURE OF THE DIRECTIONS IN WHICH AIRCRAFT WERE FLYING, WE WOULD MOST APPRECIATE CONFIRMATION OF PARA 3 ABOVE AND ANY LIGHT YOU MIGHT THROW ON THESE REPORTS. LIMITED OFFICIAL USE UNCLASSIFIED Page 2 of 3

Page 3

UNCLASSIFIED CSP-2025-00040 B-00002707027 "UNCLASSIFIED" 3/2/2026 Dissemination Rule: Archive Copy UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED Page 3 of 3

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Machine summary

Written by Claude Sonnet 4.6 (Anthropic) on May 22, 2026, from the record's text and war.gov's description. It is not part of the record and can contain errors; check it against the document.

This is a three-page diplomatic cable dated January 28, 1985, sent from the U.S. Embassy in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, to USCINCPAC in Honolulu and copied to multiple recipients including the State Department and Andersen AFB in Guam. It was classified Limited Official Use at the time and released in full under the PURSUE program in 2026. The cable documents an inquiry from Papua New Guinea's National Intelligence Organization regarding aerial sightings over PNG on the evening of January 24, 1985. Observed phenomena included fast-moving objects with lights, contrails, and noise. An Air Niugini pilot near Angoram reported radar returns of high-altitude, high-speed aircraft. Visual sightings described one aircraft traveling north to south at 1900 local and six to eight aircraft traveling south to north.

The cable is notable as a foreign government formally querying the U.S. about unidentified aircraft in its sovereign airspace, with the sightings significant enough to prompt a public meeting attended by the Prime Minister. The Embassy stated it found no record of B-52 overflights or any U.S. aircraft in PNG airspace that night and sought USCINCPAC confirmation. Page 2 contains a partial text truncation, and no response cable is included in this release. The document fits a pattern of Cold War-era ambiguous overflight incidents where conventional military explanations were neither confirmed nor ruled out.

Most frequent words

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unclassified aircraft port high january moresby papua reports overflights limited official cable guinea inquiry intelligence altitude speed south north amembassy state embassy uscincpac airspace local various night moving contrails pilot

Closest matches by the text of the documents.

  1. State Department UAP Cable 002, Kazakhstan, January 31, 1994 Department of State Document 1/27/94
  2. State Department UAP Cable 003, Tbilisi, Georgia, October 30, 2001 Department of State Document 10/28/2001-10/29/2001
  3. State Department UAP Cable 004, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, November 5, 2004 Department of State Document 11/5/04
  4. DOS-UAP-D001 Diplomatic Cable, Brazil, November 14, 1963 Department of State Document 11/14/63
  5. State Department UAP Cable 005, Mexico, September 16, 2003 Department of State Document 9/12/03
  6. DOS-UAP-D002 Diplomatic Cable, Brazil, November 20, 1963 Department of State Document 11/20/63