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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…
fr US A.ttorne7, Southern Diet of /
J'la dtd 16 Oct 44 / y\ 3~ ~ .. 7 A 7 a-
No M/R necessary.
COORDINATION : AFOIN-2A2 AFOIN-2A
l. Reference report of eight!~ Miami, Florida on 29 Jul7 62 and related 16 mm
JD.Ovie film previou1l7 forwarded to 7ou. !l!he 1nelosed document, obtained from OSD-OPI,
contains additional information on thi• incident. It is for 7our iDi'ormation and 't.
. ention.
2. Also inoloaed for 7our retention are photo•tatlc copies ot selected doCWRenta
in the Marine Corps per•onnel fite on D. S. Des Vergers. 'Dleae photostate were aupplied
by the Marine Oorpa with the understanding that the information therein would not be
dinl.ged to anyone vho does not require 1t for intelligence analysis ot the incident
Chief• Air ~echnical
Intelligenee' Center
lftight-Patterson A7l3
Ohio
in 1ilhich Dea Verger• va~ a principal.
6 Inola (w/orig only)
1 . L\r USMC• Mi~i• na
dtd 4 Aug 52 w/attaehmente
2 . Photostat q of review ot
discharge of D. S. Dea Vergers
3. Photostat c7 of ltr tr Board
e of Review to 'l'he Comnandant of
the MC. 7 Aug 52
4 . Photostat cy of ltr to liaT7
DeJ,t tr Ped Reform. Chillicothe,
0. dtd 14 Oct 44 re Dea Verger1
5. Photoatat ey ot ltr to JAG, traV7
0AFOIN-2A2
L~~ ~i t ~ L Maj Fournet/dbv/75990 0
Wrnt l Oct 52SECURITY INFORMATION 0
~
( Unclassified) Matel"ial tor ProJect Blue Book :rDept of the Air J'orce ncT 2 19S? ,
liq USAF - AYOIN- 2 f!aJ rournet./dbv/7599O
f
WILL1AM A. ADAJ.{S
Colonel. USAJ'
Cb.let. Topical Division
Deput7 Director for Betimatee
Directorate ot Intelligence, DOS/0

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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.