U.S. Air Force Flying Discs File, 1952

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.

COKflBllfflM.SJC\m.tTY IN?ORJUTIOI
areaa are eDJDined. the abaence of singeing under the told suggests the
poeaibilit7 that the~ was not being worn on the head when the eingein&
took place. It was noted that thia fold •smoothed out• when t he cap vaa
placed on the head.
As to what might haTe caused the burned holes in the cap• you are
adTised that on the cap bill there vai noted an area of particular aigni
fioance which has been circled with a pencil mark. In this circle 1a a
burned area a pproximately 1/321 in diameter. It is belieTed to be too
small to have been caused singularly and intentionally by Kr. DeaTergers.
!he appearance ofthe small burned spot suggests the poasiblit7 that a small
glowing e':llber of s o?:?e kind, very hot but containing a amall amount of heat,
because of its s ize. tell on the cap bill, causing burns in two of the
threads after which the gloving ember cooled off and tell off the cap bill.
8Jec1men Ql is being returned to 7ou herewith.
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