Documents / Case file
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.
.,. •Travel Report - Minneapolis, Minnesota 29, :30, 31 December 1952 On 29 Dec 52, Lt A.G. Flues went to Minneapolis, Minnesota, t.o contact the Field Representative of ONR and the General Mills Corporation there. The purpose was to determine if' the UFO's in the Tremonton, Uteh, movies of 2 July 52 might be pillow balloons. On 30 Dec the films were run off 1n the balloon room of the Physics Building, ' University of Minnesota. The following were in attendance, Lt Malcolm Ross, USN S2C Leroy Harger, USN CPO Lewis, USN Dr. Nye, u. of Minn. Balloon lights and geophysics Dr. Winkler, u. of Minn. Balloon nights and geophysics Frank c. Jewett, Exec. Vice-President, Research Dept., General Milla, Ino. J .. · R. Smith, Chief', Meteorology Dept., General Mills, Inc. There were various others present all of whom have had experience in fiying pillow balloons. The films were run off eight times, at various speeds, and were frequently stopped at good frames. All were informed of the background data. It was the consensus of opinion that the objects resembled pillow balloons 1n flight very closely and did nothing that pillows would not do in similar circumstances. J. R. Smith was the least convinced of this hypothesis; however, he felt that the objects were a bit too bright and maneuvered a bit too fast. The head meteorologist of GMI pointed out that winds to' 8,000 rt. at Hill AFB would probably be different trom those at Tremonton because of topography and land-sea effect. The extreme stability of the atmosphere on that dq would, he added, make aseent very slow and would tend to stabilize a pillow at a given altitude . .Additionally, wind direction is capable or a 180° shift within perhaps DECLASSIFIED Authority NND 923007
Case file, from the pursue collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 156 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.