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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. 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…
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8lllMAHY 01 CIRctll8'.rlla81 DUS:tIGM'l<a 01 ~
UIIDDTlJ'III) J'LYDG ~ • ARLiaJTOJI, VIRGDIA
1-2 September 1952
l . :At 16oo hours on 3 Sep 52, tbe Directorate ot Intelllaence,
Rq. , USAP rece1Yed a telephone call trcita Kr. W&lter sto:na, 227 18th
Street, SE, Washington, D.C. (phone LI 31,290) that an unusual circle
vas :tound marked on :tbe l&vn ot his tatber, Mr. Charl.es Walter Storm,
on the zrnina ot 2 Sep 52 and that he belle'f'ed it mi&bt bear BOme
relation to the USU' 1nveet1pt1on of unidentit.1.ed t'ly1na object■ •
2. Major Pournet, or the D/ I , ealled on the el.cler 11r. Storm at
bis residence (102 forth O&rtiel4 Street, Arl.1.naton, Va., phones
CH 8508) durin& the eYeninli ot 3 Sep 52.
3. 1'he tol.J.ov1na vas ~ound on Mr. Storm' • rear l.avn ( refer to
sketch 1n Incl. 2) t
a . A circle l6 teet 1n diameter and near~ perfect~ f'onaed
was marked on the l.avn by a depoa1t ot aome unknovn fi;n:7 substance
vh1ch was adhert.na to the aras• 1n clustera of' 1'1l\ e "1,obul.e•.
b . 'Die band ot the circle ( around tbe periphe17) vu an &ftra&e
of' approJC:1.iaately 6 inch.ea Yide.
c. The deposita iri the band were less pronounced and aometiua
absent tor short d1.stinces vhere depreasiona or uneven.es• 1n tbe around
s'Ul'tace occurred.
d . A small everareen bush vu located at a point about 40 inchea
1na1de the circl.e and did not appear to have been d1atu:rbed 1n any v,q nor
vere ~ deposits present on or around 1t.
e. A clothes line f'razie located on a centril. pole overhu,na the
cirel aomevhat and had been in place ( approximately aa abovn 1D I ncl 2 )
on tbe 'iibt 1n question.
t. An anteJlD& vi.re about 4o feet above the aroun4 oTirhuna the
circle, exact amount undetermined.
j a. lo other Ye&etation in the area contained. ap:r a..p6aita or
mark• ( am&ll treea vere present, as cloee u 6 or 8 feet from the circle).
h. ~ee t:,pea ot fertilizer vere stored in COffred drums near
the p.raae about l.5 feet avq- from tbe circle.

Cases discussed

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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.