Documents / Official release
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.
“Headquarters”28 pages
CBS LA'BOll&'fORIES A Dindon of Col\U!lbia :nroaaca■ttnc S7atu, Inc. 485 Ma41aon AYcue, •• York 22, sv To.r~ - l'lasa S..:2000 MnJor General Jame■ A. Samford Chtet ot Intelligence Pen~n l9u1ldtnc Arlin&ton, Virginia J)ear Sir: ln connection with *tl~ saucer• Q.evspaper account• of obaenaticna ori \he eearch ra4ar qata at the aihtnctcm atio.o.al Alrpon. 1t occurred to me tba\ the aeacrtbed be hanor could. poa lbli be account•cl ~or 1D the tolloYing mnnera ·:a1gh power, narrow be&lll tire co11tral radar a7etema or the ua\ml tn,e gb\ concel~bl7, und•r unueual atmoapherlc cond1tlone, create enoll&b ionhailon aloa,g poin.te on the beam in the UJ)J)er ttioap!,lere to al.lo,, the retura ot an. appreciable echo to the aearoh radar e7etem trma auch ;otnte. fbe apparent otioza wuld be quUit haphaS&l"4, t"ollovlng atever the tire control radar operator does 1n directing the 'beam. !bi• bn>othede h unattracUTe tor eeYeral reasona: Piratl.7, the power required tor such an effect ia ~ t1 cs greater than that put out _, the ucual radar. Secondl.7, uch echoee voul4 preaumab}.J' come from ionotphel'ic helf)lta and tharefore could not appear at ranee,a ot a few mUea fl'Ol:I \be ••rch radar, ••••reported. '?h1r4l7. it •ea• W'llikel7 that e oolncident ttwal et~ect of any ccmspieu.oa.s -gn.1tude would be produce4. ln apUe or thia, I aa ot!erinc thia KUHtioo tn tbe belld that it eons14enble time. aoney and effort 111 being clnoted to thh probla, 1t •1ght be worthvbile trJing the rel.&tivel7 aillple experi ent <tf having a pover.tul fire control radar ave.rp out certain simple patterna toe" tt the:r sn bo detected on the aearch radar s7et.em, preferabl7 at a ttme when •tl71ng aaucei- 11 echoes are bein« obsened.. •I John H. Hol17VOod. JIAgioeer COP?
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.