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…
4 . Kr. and Mrs. Storm were interviewed and ottered the !'ollovina
information:
a: Mr. Storm cut the grass in the area in question around
18oo- 1.900 bo'IU"s ou l Sep 52. 'fhe cllppin&a vere l.eft vl'l,ere they tell.
b . At 2300 hours on 1 Sep 521 Mr. Stol'm put his doa 1n the
basement tor the niiht. ( Wotei the dog barks at aIJ;yone who comes into
the yard, and, until. that time had not sounded ott) •
c. (As rell.ted to Kr. Storm later by Mrs. Vhitehurat, a neia)ibor
iimnediatel.3' in the rear or the Storm reeidence .nd. ad,Jacent t6 the l.aWJl in
question. ) Mrs . lihitehurst vu awakened at about o4oo houre on 2 Sep 52
by bark.ins ot do& "which seemed to be in 4iatress" . She l.ooked out o~ a
vindov in the rear other house but tailed to see ~na (it wae a rather
dark ni&bt) .
d . Upon &oins out to his car at 0730 boure 2 Sep 52, Jlr . Storm
noticed ;the circl.e and walked onr to f'JCM11De it . He describes it as
bavini at that time a brown, oily• sl&ll.dy appearance with ~t seemed to
be a Tery fine cranuJ.ar structure (as tho~ a fine HD4 mued vith li&b,t
oil. bad been spread to torm this rina) . He rubbed some of the substance
between his f'in&ere and tound it ta:1n1ll;r gritty and detinitel.y oi~. Jira.
Storm corroborates thl.e description.
e. Du.rina mid- afternoon ot 2 8ep 52 Mrs . Storm reexamined the rill&
Gd found that the color bad ch@.&ed to o-qis\-bl.ue, and 1t no lon&er
appeared to be oily. Hovewr it still tel.t oi.cy but .no lon&er f'e1t aritty.
She detected DO odor \\POn amellina it.
t . Upon retamina from vork at 1.700 houra 2 Sep 52, Mr. Storm
a.pin ~xemined it with his wife. Be describe-a the eolor u purpllsh• &r~;
Nrs. Storm describes tbe col.or aa bluiab•~• Both ap-ee that the
substance had besun, to f'om small., cloaely•packed &].ObUlea on the blades
ot ;rue and that it had beiWl to •cryatallize• . Mr. Storm atatea that it
then telt slick ( like araiphite) vb.en rubbed betveen the fingen; Mrs. Storm.
describes it as a pcilrdery teel.
(JO'Ss !l'here bad been oo raiil eince bef"ore the eftnina ot
l. Sep 52, ind there waa a bot aun all day on 2 Sep 52.
Bovever, there vaa a bea'f'7 rainfall durin& the niibt or
2,/3 Sep 52) .
a . Dur1na the morn:l.na ot 3 Sep 52, .Mr. Storm reeumined it Q.no.
"lN,8 SUJ'l)r1sed to t1nd it there after eo mucb. rain" . lie describea its
~ as darker ( a slate ara.,y) and still formed ill ~ obulee on the
~s bl.ad.ea. It still f'e1t about like graphite., perhaps a bit •t..'linner•
/ than the precediq evenina. (Mrs. Storm remoYed ~ l.e I: that mornina).
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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.