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U.S. Air Force Flying Discs File, 1952

U.S. Department of War · 1952 · 253 pages · text from the file's own layer

This 1952 file of U.S. Air Force intelligence correspondence on flying objects comes from the Directorate of Intelligence at Headquarters USAF. It records the return to the Coast Guard of a negative of objects photographed at Salem Air Station on 16 July 1952, and requests to Naval Intelligence to analyze the Tremonton film by Delbert Newhouse and the Great Falls film by Nicholas Mariana. It also holds Strategic Air Command report transmittals, letters from members of the public, and an Okinawa object said to have fallen into the sea.

From the source:Release of 2026-09-18 Incident: September - December 1952, Various. This file is an archival collection of U.S. Air Force Director of Intelligence records relating to reported “flying disc” incidents during the period from September through December 1952. Drawn from multiple governmental and non-governmental sources, it compiles a wide range of material associated with reported sightings and official handling of those observations, rather than presenting a single analytical conclusion on the nature or origin of “flying discs.” The contents include correspondence, memoranda, reporting forms, case summaries, distribution and routing material, and other administrative or intelligence-related documentation tied to flying-disc reporting and review during that period. Pages 26-36 of the file refer to an incident reported near Tremonton, Utah, in July 1952, in which a U.S. Navy Warrant Officer recorded film of unidentified objects that the Air Force later assessed were likely seabirds. Overall, the file is a broad documentary collection reflecting how such reports were recorded, circulated, and evaluated in late 1952.

DOW-UAP-PR159 · video · 1952-07-02 Historical Film of Reported UFOs, Utah, 1952 This archival footage is a digitization of a 16mm print of Kodachrome color motion-picture film shot on a handheld Bell & Howell Auto Master camera near Tremonton, Utah, on July 2, 1952. U.S. Navy Chief Warrant Officer Delbert C. Newhouse reported observing and filming a group of bright airborne objects and shortly thereafter submitted the footage to the U.S. Air Force. The film later became one of the visual cases reviewed by Project Blue Book, the 1952–1969 U.S. Air Force program that investigated the nature and origin of unidentified flying objects (UFOs). The film’s limited detail and lack of fixed reference points prevented a conclusive resolution. From the 55-second mark onward, the film transitions to unrelated footage appearing to show a demonstration of sewing equipment. The presence of unrelated sewing-equipment footage suggests that the surviving footage may be a composite or reused print, though the available record does not establish how or when the materials came to be combined. As documented in records submitted with the film, contained in this collection under the title DOW-UAP-D102, the footage originally was paired with mountain scenery from Idaho, which is not preserved in this digitization. Download (76.1 MB)
  • p. 129 …llMI~ (Unclase1~1ed) Additional Oorre9Pondenee fr0111 Robert Spencer Carr (ref Project Blue Book) Chief, Air '.rech…
AFOIN-2A2
Maj Fournet/dbv/75990
Wrtn 2 Oct 52
(Reatricted) Un1dentif1e~ Object Vlhich ell iii
Water Off Okinawa, Jiov 50 ~ ni:;z
'lCT 3 b ..Chief• Air Te chnical Dep t of the Air J'oroe ... __'7atteraon AFB
Ohio
l. Reference our '!JY dated 28 Au,;u.st 1952, same subject as above. "~-
2. Large scale maps of the area. 1n question were obtained and the correct spot ~~
located. It v1ll be noted on Inol l that the water ott the villa~ of Glnama 1a .~
. .&.thar deep. According to . Sgt Gusi ' a sketch. the object would have fe.lle.n 1n at l~ •t 10 fathoms of we.tor. A soaroh for the object would entn11 divtng or ,rations at
this depth o'f'er an area of a pproximately one-half aquare mile or e1ore. lor this a.
reason it is considere d impractical to request an attempt at recovery.
3. It ia BUgf,~sted that all dooumenta pertaining to this eas~ be filed in the
ennt that the future atatua of ProJect Blue :Book warrants a recovery attempt.
4 . All documenta referring to this case are rett11'ned. herevith.
.....,_..
x3~-? nr1e. __s
6 Incle ('w/orig only) l{li..LIAM A. ADAMS
Colonel • USA? \
l . Map 3727-1 Sl1. 1: 25.000 Chier. !o~ical Division
2. Map 3727-lll m:, 1:25,000 Deput7 Director for Eatimtes
~ - Transcript of interview w/ Sgt Directorate of Intelligence, DCS/0
~ - Memo £ Sgt Ousi1 e comments
5. Hydro Chart Okinawa \,"
'I~6. Aero Chart Oldna'lf8
No M/R necessary.
OOORDINATION: AFOIN-2A2 AFOI N-2A
, ....cm '\.,.,,.'\

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Official release, from the pursue collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 253 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.