Documents / Official release
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.
“Cooper”12 pages
AFOIN-2A2
Maj Fournet/Ac/71379
5 November 1952
!,fr. \falter :B. l3ur,:ese
::Bo:x 147
~lack Mount31n, Borth Carolina
Dear Mr. l3urgesa:
~ecause the Air 1orce has been designated the reapon1i-
bilit7 for the inveattga'tion and anal111• of •n7ing saucerstt.
the Secret~ry of Defense referred 7our letter of 13 October 1~52
to us for consideration.
~
We --find your propoaal extremely ed.1~:~ ; ntt iea1re to
commend you for 70ur great ~~!!,;i.e. - Un1ortunatel7 1 however,
we cannot accept your ::;r.ertitle offer at this time since there
is no prov:1,.ti~~ -fdiich allovs u1 to increase our current organ-
17.~tion, ~ad 7our aervices could not be utilized without some
p!"$~iion of this nature.
Nonetheless. we are forwarding 7our letter to our Air Tech (')
gnical Intelligence center at Wright-~atterson Air Force :B8se, aOhio. tor future reference. Should the7 find that your p roposal
can be entertained in the future, the~ vill contaot Jou direct. !....0
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COORDINATION:
AFOIN-2A2AFOIN-2a 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.