Documents / Official release

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. 165 …Ltr ~ OM '-'td ~ er- 53 !WILLIAM W. WILCOX ~ ·:·••,'7w/cc ltr to en Mike ~ Monrone7 rr…
  • p. 217 …1 •1 Incl l ~.{IlLIP.M W, WILCOX Ltr ~r rm. A. llerr1d&e / ~olonol, USAF…
  • p. 220 …w/attached sight.ing rpt WILLIAM W. WILCOX -~ Cu::.onel, US.AF - ...,_ . Chiet, Policy and Management…
  • p. 222 …C~'.i: J! 1\'i!LLIAJK W. WILCOX Color.el, US.AP G~ief, Poli cy…
  • p. 246 …orig DF only) S/ .1. lrLIAM W. WILCOX 1 . L::.r fr .·r A.G. 'anke…
AFOIN-2A2
L Maj Fournet/t:b./ 71016
S~CURITY I~ 0R!fATI0N 12 Sep 52 - wrtn 19 Sep 52
Ml!MORAHDUM FCE RECOBD
PROBI»I
l. To prepare DF to ATIC and non-milltary letters to Prof. John C.
Weber, Mr. John M. Hollywood and Mr. G. Francis Nauhei.mer.
FACTS AND DISCUSSION
2. In letters addressed to General Samford, tbe above-named gentl.emen
offer theories as to the cause of aerial. phencmesn which they believe ms:y
account for unidentified flying object sightings . It is noteworthy that
Prof. Weber is Associate Professor of El.ectrical Engineering at the U'niversity
of Wisconsin, Mr. Hol.lyvood is an engineer for the CBS Laboratories, and Mr.
Bauheimer is Director of the Glare Research Institute.
3. Since the proposal.s of Prof. Weber and Mr. Hol.lyvood coincide
rather closely with tbe experiments of Mr. Scott of the Engineer Research
and Development Lab at Fort Belvoir as well as with the ideas of Dr. Possony,
their letters have been reviewed very caref'ully. Copies are being maintained
here for further study.
4 . Original letters received from Prof . Weber and Mr. Hollywood will
be forwarded to ATIC by DF after signature by D/ I of replies.
5. Replies to the three gentlemen are attached. They have been written
in the first person from General Samford.
6. Subject matter is not considered suitable for inclusion in the Daily
Staff Digest.
ACTION RECOMMENDED
7. Bees.use of the professional status of the three correspondents,
it is strongly recommended that General Samford sign the attached replies.
COORDINATION:
AFOI11-2A2, Col Smith, Ext. 75990~~
AFOIN-2A, Col Adams, Ext. 74072NV~ I',./,
AFOIB- 2, Col Morrov, Ext. 7lllO ~
AFOIN, Maj Gen Samford, Ext 55613 r

Cases discussed

About this file

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.