U.S. Air Force Flying Discs File, 1952

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.

Capt Smith/AC/75990
19 December 1952
MEMORANDUM FOR RECORD
PROBLEM:
1. To return a photographic negative purported to be
ot "flying saucers" taken by a member of the USCG at Salem
Air Station, Massachusetts, on 16 July 1952.
FACTS AND DISCUSSION:
2. On 15 December 1952, Mrs. Mead of the Public Intonna
tion Division ot the USCG here in Washington telephoned Captain
Smith of AFOIN-2A2 and requested return of subject negative.
3. Captain Smith contacted Captain Ruppelt o! ATIC on
16 December 1952 by telephone and requested he bring the negativ~
to HQ USAF on a sta.tf visit which he was to make on 17-18 December.
4. Captain Ruppelt stated that ATIC was finished with
analyzing the photograph and that he would bring it with him
for return to the USCG.
ACTION:
; . Subject negative returned by attached letter in com
pliance with the request of the USCG.
COORDrnA.TION:
AFOIN-2A2, Col. W. H. Smith, Ext. 71016
AFOIN-2A, Col. W. A. Adams, Ext. 74072