Denb Report
The Denb Report is an anomalous document of unknown origin that serves as the primary source for the 1974 Coyame, Mexico UFO Crash Retrieval case. Titled "Research Findings on Chihuahua Disc Crash," the document first appeared on an electronic bulletin board in 1992 and was subsequently anonymously mailed to select UFO researchers, including Elaine Douglas and Nick Redfern.
Authorship and Provenance
The report is authored by an individual or entity identified only as "JS" and dated March 23, 1992. It is addressed "to all Denb team members" and designated "File UFO 3263," suggesting it is one of many UAP cases studied by the DENB Team. The report states the facts were "gathered from two eyewitness accounts, documentation illegally copied, and a partially destroyed document" by a now-deceased person in 1978. The notes and documents came into the hands of the DENB group in February 1992.
Hypotheses about the authorship include:
- JS as an acronym: Joint Staff, Joint Services, or another government/military department
- JS as an individual: A person with access to classified crash retrieval documentation
- The DENB Team: Possibly an internal USG investigation group analogous to the UAP Task Force, operating via early internet message boards during the "UAP Dark Ages" (1969–2007)
Content and Detail
The Denb Report provides minute-by-minute operational detail of the Coyame incident, including:
- Radar tracking data (speed, altitude, bearing, time stamps)
- Communications intercepts between Mexican military units
- CIA recovery team assembly timeline and staging at Fort Bliss
- Helicopter flight paths and arrival times
- Detailed description of the recovered disc (16 feet 5 inches diameter, silver, convex surfaces, two areas of damage, approximately 1,500 lbs)
- Destruction of the Mexican convoy and bodies with high explosives
- Transport route via Davis Mountains rendezvous to Atlanta, Georgia
The report distinguishes clearly between confirmed facts and speculation, noting where information is incomplete or unconfirmed. For example, it states the cause of death of the Mexican recovery team "is not known" and that speculation "ranges from a chemical released from the disc as a result of the damage to a microbiological agent."
Authenticity Assessment
Leonard Stringfield reviewed the Denb Report and concluded it was "authoritatively written using correct military terminology" and drew clear distinctions between hard evidence and speculation—characteristics inconsistent with a hoax. Stringfield had independently heard of the Chihuahua case in the late 1970s or early 1980s, stating, "the only detail I vaguely recall is that the US military team had covertly crossed into Mexico to retrieve the object."
Ryan S. Wood, author of Magic Eyes Only, rates the Coyame case (based on the Denb Report) as medium to high authenticity due to:
- Correct military terminology and operational detail
- Consistency with known crash retrieval protocols
- Clear distinction between hard evidence and speculation
- Corroboration from independent researcher testimony (Stringfield)
However, significant obstacles to authentication remain:
- Anonymous provenance via internet message boards
- Unknown identity of JS and the DENB Team
- Lack of government documentation (FAA, NORAD, DoD) corroborating the incident
- Loss of Elaine Douglas's original document scans upon her death in 2014
Distribution Method
The Denb Report's distribution method—first appearing on an early internet bulletin board in 1992, then anonymously mailed to researchers in 1993—mirrors the distribution of the MJ-12 Documents in the 1980s, which were also anonymously mailed to researchers. This raises questions about whether the report originated from a similar insider source, represents a deliberate leak, or is part of a disinformation campaign.
The use of early internet message boards by the DENB Team to distribute the report is notable. With the later revelation that the UAP Task Force used Top Secret online forums to discuss UAP cases, the DENB Team may represent an earlier iteration of this practice—a group of intelligence community professionals using nascent internet infrastructure to disseminate compartmented information outside official channels.
Current Status
The original scans of the Denb Report were hosted on Elaine Douglas's website (www.elainedouglas.com) but are now missing from the Web Archive version of the site following her death in 2014. Ryan S. Wood does not have copies of the original document for forensic analysis, representing a significant loss for authentication efforts.
Inquiries to the FAA revealed no documents concerning the civilian aircraft crash, likely because it did not involve a US aircraft nor occur over US airspace. NORAD was suggested as possibly having space tracking records if the object entered from orbital altitude, but no records have been released.
The Denb Report remains the most detailed primary source for the Coyame case and continues to be cited by researchers investigating alleged cross-border UAP crash retrieval operations.