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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500 ft. of altitude which could account for a high or low balloon, with relation
to the group, to proceed in an apparently- opposite direction.
If the objects are pillows, the consensus was that they- are not over
6,000 1 altitude, probably- much less. If this is so, they cannot possibly- have
been aloft for more than 12 hours, and this only if filled with warm air or
underinflated with gas or ballasted for a given altitude. There is a much
greater probability that they are ascending and have been released from a
nearly point not over 1/2 hour before.
None of the persons present placed much faith in the computations of
angular velocity, since all were predicated upon Newhouse's holding the camera
still.
Lt Flues went over to GMI later on and obtained. from J. R. Smith the names
and addresses of consignees who received. pillow balloons during the period Sep
51 - 2 Jul 52. Also Lt Flues picked up some photos of pillow balloons and the
flight tracks of three Navy Skyhook.a released in Sept 52 from Tillamook, Ore. Gen
eral Mills had no movies of pillows which approximated the Tremonton films aa
GMI 1s footage seemed to be, shot against cloud background and when the balloons
were lower. However, they will be launching pillows from Wendover, Utah, in
Feb 5.3 and will make movies then.
The course of action recommended was for ATIC to check all persons in the
western u.s. who received pillows. There were some other shipments to Gl1I home
and farm appliance stores, and J. R. Smith agreed to send ATIO the names and
addresses of such consignees.
List of consignees:
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DECLASSIFIED Authority NNO 923007