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.

..UNCLASSJFlED
U . S . NAVAL PHOTOGRAPHIC INTERPRETATION CENTER
01/HWW:gcl U. S. Naval Receiving Station SAVINGS
BONDSAll Washington 25, D. C.
EC
'
From: Officer 1n Charge
To: Chief', Naval Operations
Subj: Interpretation of Movies of Unidentified Flying
Objects; progress report on
Ref: (a) Conf ltr DNI OP322Y5/rtm, dtd 27 Oct 1952 ~1th
enclosures thereto
(b) Memo, Chief, Topical Division, USAF, AFOlN 2A2
dtd 24 Nov 1952 with enclosures thereto
Encl: (1) Copy of enclosure 7 of reference (a)
l. Reference (a) directed the interpretation of movies
of unidentified objects taken in Utah, 1952. Included
among the enclosures are approxima.tely 30 feet of pro
cessed 16mm. color motion picture film and a list of ques
tions for guidance in determining the type of analysis
desired. This progress report presents the procedures
a.nd methods designed to answer some of the questions con
tained 1n enclosure 7 and the results obtained as of this
date by the Photogrammetry Division, Evaluation Department
of this Center.
2. Tests and Procedure. The film exposed in Utah is in
very poor condition; dry, brittle and with a tendency to
break. After initial viewing, duplication of the film
was performed in order to preserve the one originally re
ceived. This conswned approximately two weeks. In the
duplication process, some color correction was made to
permit better viewing of the objects. For convenience
in interpretation, the film was divided into three parts,
each part being considered an entity. Part I consisted
of the footage taken at f8; part II, the footage taken
DOWNGRADED AT 8 YEAR 'IN't'rnR'V:
DECLASSIFIED AFTER 12 YE'aiJ. •
DOD DIR 6200.10
UNCLASSIFIED