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)
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  • 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…
RESfRlSfEB AFOIN- lAl/Maj Harlow/71067/ht
SECURITY INFORMATION Wrtn 26 Aug 52
MEMORANDUM FOR RECORD
PROBLEM:
1. To advise the Army and Navy as to the current Air Force interest
in unidentified flying objects and gain their cooperati on in reporting
such data as may become availabl e to Army and Naval personnel .
FACTS AND DISCUSSION:
2 . In the past, AFOIN has requested that the Army and :Navy assist the
Air Force in the collection of data pertaining to uni dentified flying objects .
Our desires were made known in a letter AFOIN, Subject : "Reporting of Infor
mation on Unconventional Aircraft," 18 September 1950 which was signed by
Major General Cabell .
3 . When the latest AF Instructions on this subject were issued on 29
April 1952 (AFL 200- 5) action to advise the Army and Navy of the existence
of new instructions was deferred at the request of ATIC pending the develop
ment of an "Obs er ver s Questionnaire . " This form was to be used as an aid
in the extraction of information from observers . General use of this form
is not contemplated at this time .
4 . At the working level, the Navy has asked to be informed as to the
current Air Force desires in this matter soonest . At levels lower than ¥A,s
headquarters echelons of the Air Force have mis - stated our desires to
echelons of the Navy. Instructions on this subject withl~ he Navy presently
are conflicting and confused.
5 . Not for inclusion in the Daily Staff Digest .
RECO!IMENDATION:
6 . That D/F to the Army and Hemo to the Navy be forwarded, asking
their cooperation in the reporting of unidentified flying objects and
outline a desirable reporting procedure in accordance with AFL 200-5 .
ACTION :
7 . Recommended letters have been prepared. Request they be signed
and forwarded.
COORDINATION:
AFOilf- AFOIN- lAl, Maj Harlow ~ .P
AFOilf-lX :..;::;..i.,,,o:;;; ColBell :t:l}-fp
AFOilf-lA ~~ Col Walton~
R2S+RISfED
SECURITY INFORMATION

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.