Serial 164 is one record in the Department of War's May 8, 2026 PURSUE Release 01 posting of FBI file 62-HQ-83894, the Bureau's headquarters file on unidentified flying objects and flying discs.1 The official release links this entry to a remotely hosted PDF for 65_hs1-834228961_62-hq-83894_serial_164.pdf.2
Air Force UFO Reporting Instructions
The scan opens with an FBI Central Records Center file jacket for headquarters case 62-HQ-83894, volume 1, serial 164. The jacket is marked for the EBF serials sequence, carries FOIPA number 1142292, and includes a declassification note derived from the FBI Automatic Declassification Guide issued May 24, 2007.2
The first substantive document is a Department of the Air Force Directorate of Intelligence memorandum dated February 15, 1949. It is marked Restricted, titled Air Intelligence Requirements Memorandum Number 4, and uses the subject Unconventional Aircraft.2 The memorandum says its purpose was to restate continuing Air Force information requirements for sightings of unconventional aircraft and unidentified flying objects, including so-called "Flying Discs," and to establish reporting procedures for that information.2
The reporting instructions show how the Air Force wanted sightings to move through official channels. Overseas commands and air attaches were told to cable initial and supplementary reports to the Director of Intelligence, Headquarters United States Air Force, with a pass to the Commanding General at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Zone of the Interior commands and non-Air Force agencies were directed toward Air Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson, with copies or direct forwarding to Air Force intelligence where appropriate.2
FBI Custody and Air Force Process
This serial is useful because it preserves a collection rulebook rather than a single sighting narrative. Within the broader 62-HQ-83894 release, it helps explain how early postwar UFO information was supposed to be captured: dates, times, observer positions, and location details were treated as intelligence-reporting requirements, not merely as public curiosity.2
The document also shows why FBI-held UFO files can contain Air Force material. Serial 164 places the Bureau's headquarters file beside Air Force reporting architecture, especially the role of Wright-Patterson and Air Materiel Command, making it a bridge between FBI archival custody and the military intelligence process that shaped early official flying-disc records.2
Serial 164 Release Asset
65_HS1-834228961_62-HQ-83894_Serial_164 remote release asset