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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)
Interpretation ot Mones ot Unidentified Ylyi:Dg ObJecta
(see Ii.cl. 1) e.re :possibly the best
Fou.rnet/f:h/75990/Rm 4B 864
wrtn 24 Oct 52
•
I
AFOIN-2A2
MEMORAJmtJM FOR: Director. ot Jfavo.l Intelllgence
Attention: Op 322Y5
SUBJECT:
1. ~e o.tttl.ched mcm.es
documenui.cy evidence yet obtained on unidentified fly:lne obj~cto.
ibcy have been analyzed by en Air Force phot~grapliic laboratory.
llowever, it is our desire to obtain an independent cnoJ.ysis by a
seyarate laboratory in order ~t ve may better interpret the
im;plice.tions of these clo.ta. For this reason, it is requested
that a.c cc:q,letc nn inter_pret..-t.ion o.s possible be rendered by a.
Na-vy nctivity. •
2. Circumnta.ncea surrounding the photography ere summarized
in Incl.osure 2. Additional details irere requested by ceesc.ges
which are included. ao lnclozuros 3 and 5 and were obtn.ined in the
repllea attached l1G Incloourea 4 and 6. ffith regn.rd to tnclosureo
5 end 6, the f'innl foota.¢e of film referred to hns been aeta.ched
and returned to CFO Nevhouoc. Bovever, it 'Wtlli deduced from this
portion tbo.t Newhou&e obtai.Ded excellent results vbile hond.- 0
Q
hold.1.ng tbe cwncra; there VWJ olmoot no cm:1e1-a JilOtion evident. ~
This deduction vac applied to the ~sis of thht portion of the ~
film dcp1ctiμg the motion of the sint:;lc object which ae·tnched itself ~
c+
I-'•f'ro:n tbe group ao explained in lllclosure 2. 0
~
3. A list of representative questions for tbe interpretation ~
is attached ns Incl.ooure 7, ~ese qu.eations are indicative of the
tY»C do:ta deGired. .Aey- o.u.dit1onu.l data. which can be obto.ined
~roul.d 'be most welcOJ:le, particule.rly es concerus tho 'light intenoity
of the obj ects, the formatioll8 (including three-dimensional. renditions,
if posoi.ble), ea:ane:nts regard1J18 tbe possibility that the iJrl,a.ses vere
ca.uned by circrsft end the condition• which munt have prevo.11ed £or
aircrat't to produce cuch 1me,ee , etc.
4. It was dcterm:iiled 'fro:n the Na.val Obaerva.tory, Waehington,
D.c. tbat the position or tho sun a.t :the time on.a. J.ocation of the
photograpey we 64.5° cl.eva.tion end 131° a:dmuth.
5. Your cooperation in eatifyins thit. 1:equest _t the eurlieet
pro.cticn.ble ti.mo ie earnestly Gol.ic1ted. ~
X:,s;'-rf,ILJAlif)~ ~, _ ~..~"-;_",;: f .1 7 ~ .s ;,_

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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.