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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…
(i~- ■-, ••ci~ Unidentified obJect which tell in
vater ott O>t1 n,nr-., JioT 50
Chief, Air ~cbn1cal Dept ot the Air Force
Intelligence Center
Wr1gbt-Patteraon AFB
Bq USAP -AFOlll•2a2 Ma., Fournet/t:b/
71ol.6
Ohio
l.. Refercxice recent report ot interriev With T/86'<, Eme17 Guz1 or WADC re
gardina abOTe subject, on attempt baa been made to determine the feasibility or
requeatins an 1nTest1sat1on by the military 81ltboritiea on Okinawa. A ~dro
gral)hic chart of the area (Incl. l) was obtained 1n order to stu~ the aoun41nsa.
-,.loweTer, a question arose onir the exact location. On the aeronautical. cb&rt
~ Incl. 2)., Sgt Guzi indicated the loct:.tion 11t the northermost point of the island
(Bedo-misak1 or Redo Saki), but on checking his sketch ase,1nat Incloaure 1, it
api,eara more probable that the location vas a.c~ Oltu since there 1a a 3.a&oon
there about l. t:lil.e Wide and a natiTe Till.age at the aouthern edge ot the l.:a8oon,
vhich seema to check with hia sketch.
2. Bequest Sgt Guzi be reinterrogated, using Inclosure l., to determine the
most probable l.ocatlon 1n question. In eddition an attempt aboul.d be made to pin•
point the exact location at which obJect entered water.
3. I.t it tronspirea that the lB8oon at Oku is the proper location., it will
probab~ be i'esaible to investigate eince the water ie ve:q sboUov. 6bould it
be at Redo Saki, bowcTer, the depth or the vater will probably prohibit an inves
tigation.
4 . Request return ot Inclosurcs 1 ond 2 with repq.
~ W-4r
Chief, Policy and Management Group
2 . Aero cht Okinawa Otfioe, Depu~y Director for Estimat•s
IN.reot orate of I ntell igence~
2 Incl.a: ( w/ orig only)
l.. Hydro cht Okinawa
IttlAllw:fr~
Colonel, USAF
M/R is attached <:'
COORDINATION: AFOIU- 2A .A:-'OIN- 2

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.