Project Blue Book File on Tremonton Film, Utah, 1952

This U.S. Air Force Project Blue Book file compiles 1952 and 1953 messages, memos and reports on the movie film Navy Chief Photographer Delbert C. Newhouse shot on 2 July 1952 near Tremonton, Utah. It records interviews with Newhouse's family, requests about the film, and Navy and General Mills balloon experts judging that the objects closely resembled pillow balloons. It also covers internal debate about releasing the film to the press. Unrelated reports from Phoenix, Lexington and Highland Park sightings are included too.

From the source:Release of 2026-09-18 Incident: 7/2/52, Tremonton, Utah. This document records the Project Blue Book investigation and subsequent assessments of an incident near Tremonton, Utah, on July 2, 1952. Project Blue Book was a 1952-1969 U.S. Air Force program to investigate the nature and origin of unidentified flying objects (UFOs). The file describes the Air Force’s assessment of the principal witness, Delbert C. Newhouse, a U.S. Navy Warrant Officer specializing in photography, as honest and reliable, and as an expert with more than 1,000 hours of aerial-photography experience. Newhouse reported observing 12 to 14 reflective objects and recorded the event on color motion-picture film using a handheld Bell & Howell Auto Master camera. The file reflects an evolving Air Force assessment of the imagery over several years. Early documentation considered several possible explanations, including sunlight reflecting from birds or balloons, and a mirage effect, and did not identify the objects conclusively. Later assessments became more confident that the objects were seabirds reflecting sunlight, citing identifiable seabirds and similar films showing seabirds as bright points of light under comparable conditions. However, the film’s limited detail and lack of fixed reference points prevented reliable determination of the objects’ distance, size, altitude, or linear speed from the film alone. AARO Comment: The file contains conflicting references to the film format. Several documents describe a 35mm film, while contemporaneous submission documentation identifies the original as a 50-foot roll of processed 16mm Kodachrome color motion-picture film recorded with a handheld Bell & Howell Auto Master camera. Newhouse reported exposing approximately 30 feet of the roll during the incident and using the remaining film later that day to record unrelated mountain scenery in Idaho. Other records show that 35mm positive and negative duplicate blowups were produced from the original 16mm material. The file also indicates that the original film was duplicated for preservation, citing its deteriorating condition. The footage retained by the National Archives and Records Administration and presented in this collection as DOW-UAP-PR159 is a digitization of a 16mm print.

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ATION (If an11)
•
_DISPOSITION FORM
UNCLASSIFI D
FILE NO.
ISUBJECT (Restricted) Movie Film of Flying Objects Taken
2 Jul 52, Vicinity of Tremonton, Utah
TO FROM DATE t7' £;-,_,/ COMMENT NO. 1
Chief, Air Technical Dept of the Air ~orce ~-
- Maj Fournet/fu/Intelligence Center Hq USAF Air0IIT-2A2 71016Wright-Patterson AFB
L Subject i'ilm, received this o:ffice 5 Sep 52, is inclosed for appropriate
action. Duplicate of report submitted by the photographer, CPO Delbert C. Newhouse
(177283, usn), is inclosed for your information in the event that the copy forwarded
to you by the IG, Hill AFB, Utah has not been received .
2 . A message was dispatched to the CG, WADF on 6 Sep 52, with information copy
to you, requesting that an intelligence officer interview CPO Uewliouse and determine
additional details of the sighting, if available .
3. A message was~lso dispatched to the CO, Hill AFB, Utah requesting weather
informa.tion for the pe~d and vicinity in question . An information copy was
dispatched to you.
4 . It has been ascertained from the Naval Observatory , Washington, D. C. that
the position of the sun at the time(1810Z hours, 2 July 52) and the location
(4145N - ll210W) in question was 64.5° elevation and 131° azimuth . •
5. Suggest the film be submitted to the WADC Photo Lab for complete analysis
as soon as possible. The following are suggested questions for this analysis which,
if answered, should facilitate evaluation of the incident:
a . Are images made by light source or reflection'?
b . Any indication of what kind of objects could have caused images? Is
there any bird sufficiently actinic to cause images? Could they have been caused
by aircraft or balloons?
c . What causes impression that some objects at times appear to become 2 or
3 where there was originally one, or, conversely, 2 or 3 objects at times appear to
merge into one .
d . Do all objects have same characteristics?
(1) S0llle apparent shape?
(2) Sa1ne color?
(3) Same relative size?
(4) Same general motion?
e . What are shape(s), color(s) and relative size(s) of objects?
f . To what can the "fade-in" and 11 fade-out 11 of the objects be attributed?
g. What type motion is attributable to the objects (about their own axis
as well as about axis of flight path)?
h . Is there any accelleration evident in their motion along flight path axis .
i. Can the motion of the camera (pa.M.ing and joggling) be allowed for
DOWNGRADED AT~ YEAR IllTE!fVAl&i
DECLASSIFIED· AFTER 12 YEARS
_. DOD Dm 6200.10 . '
,, ,~ ..... -. •• ~<,¾-~, L . -·--UNCLASSIFIED.
a&-16-54.801-1 UT S, GOV£RNMEHT PRINTING OFFICE
DA AGO FORM 897 Replaces WD AGO Fo1m 897, 1 May 46, which may be used.I OCT 47
DECLASSIFIED Authority NND 923007