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.
“The Advance”1 page
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-.,. • .. •.Code 01/INW/lbh
Jl2 .UNCLASSIFIED
n · ,,Serial: lJ ' Qr_':'l MAY .i
Subj: Interpretation of Movies of Unidentified Objects;
progress report on
were 2457 and 378 mph respectively. These figures differ from those
given in reference (c) and were computed from measurements obtained
under more controlled conditions. Acceleration was determined from the
formula :
a: Vf - VO .-.1.e e·
T wu r .
a= Acceleration
Vf: final velocity
VO= initial velocity
T: time= 1/16 second
Since "g" is equal to 32.17 .ft/sec2 it was computed that:
Maximum acceleration= 21,168 mph/sec= 965 g
Minimum acceleration: 1,104 mph/sec= 50 g
Maximum deceleration= 32,448 mph/sec ■ 1479 g
Minimum deceleration: 272 mph/sec= 12 g
Velocit and acceleration determinations were also made from
the Montana film. I n this case, terrestial objects appeared in the
film and were held to as control. Subsequently, the velocity and
acceleration determinations are considered to be more reliable. On the
assumption of (b) and (c) above the maximum and minimum velocities of
the le.ft object are 1374 and 361 mph respect.fully . For the right object
they are 1117 and 189 mph. Accelerations vere computed as:
Le.ft Object Right Object
Maximum acceleration mph/sec 14,016.639 g 12646. 576g
Minimum acceleration mph/sec 0 :r O g O • Og
Maximum deceleration mph/sec 13,184: 6o1 g 14288 = 651g
Minimum deceleration mph/sec 0 • 0 g O "' Og
The above determinations were ma.de from a total of 322 measure
ments. It was noted that the acceleration and determinations were i n
multiples o.f 12.5 approximately . This may be of significance although
no study has been conducted to determine this.
'9. Velocity and acceleration were treated in sub-paragraph 8
above. Paragraph 2a indicates the controls used during this investi-
gation. DOWNGRADED AT B
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DOD DIR 620~.1~2 YEAR& ,
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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.