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.
“Cooper”1 page
,.. . Code 01/mrw/J.bb •'112 UNCLASSIFIEDSerial: ""' MAY 4 1953 Subj: Interpretation of Movies of Unidentified Objects; progress report on A preliminary detailed stud of the Utah film 'W8.S ma.de and 1t was decided that: a, Brightly colored spots of red and green lasting only one or two frames were not to be considered. b. Water spots could be detected easily and eliminated from the study. c. The color of the objects was fairly constant as blue-white. d, Size and luminosity of an object varied through-out the film. For convenience in interpretation, the film was divided into three parts, each part being considered a.n entity. Part I consisted of the footage taken at f8; Part II, the :footage taken at fl6 with a panning motion; and Part III, the footage taken at fl6 during which the camera w.s held steady. Three definite groups of lights were observed through out the film and plots were recorded as follows: TABLE I PLOTS OF POSITIONS ChartControlUtah Parts I II III Holding to lOYer group Not enclosed I II Holding to one object 2 and 3 and at.1muth of another I Arbitrary 1/2 inch 4 correction per frame for panning Holding to frame outline 5a and 5bIII One image held to base 6I line . Every tenth frame to show changes withth apparent formations DOWNGRADED AT ~ YEAR INTER"V AL'S: DECLASSIFIED' AFTER 12 YEARS.Montana DOD DIR 5200.10 UNCLASSlfil.ED Terrestial Objects 7a. and '7b 2
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.