From July 12 to 29, 1952, many people in Washington, D.C., reported seeing unidentified flying objects (UFOs). This event later became known as the Washington flap, the Washington National Airport Sightings, or the Invasion of Washington. The most widely reported sightings happened during two consecutive weekends: July 18–19 and July 26–27. UFO historian Curtis Peebles described the event as "the high point of the 1952 (UFO) flap," saying that "Never before or after did Project Blue Book and the Air Force face such a large number of (UFO) reports." This became one of the most famous UFO sightings in history.
1952 UFO flap
The 1952 UFO flap was a time when many people in the United States reported seeing unidentified flying objects, and the media paid a lot of attention to these reports during the summer of 1952. This event ended with reports of sightings over Washington, D.C. In the four years before 1952, the U.S. Air Force recorded a total of 615 UFO reports. During the 1952 flap, they received over 717 new reports. Edward J. Ruppelt, who led Project Blue Book, later said, "During a six-month period in 1952, 148 of the nation's leading newspapers published more than 16,000 stories about flying saucers."
On April 3, the Associated Press reported that Life magazine would soon publish an article about the Air Force's serious interest in flying saucers. The June issue of Look magazine included a story in which astrophysicist Donald Howard Menzel suggested that flying saucers might be mirage-like illusions caused by temperature changes in the air. American newspapers also covered similar ideas from French astronomer Ernest Esclangon, who said the flying saucer reports could not be from supersonic aircraft because no sonic booms were reported.
On April 7, Life magazine, which had Marilyn Monroe on its cover, published an article titled "Have We Visitors From Space?" This article became one of the most respected sources to seriously consider the possibility that flying saucer reports might be caused by spaceships from other planets. The attention this article received is believed to have led to an increase in UFO sightings that summer.
Sightings over Washington, D.C.
At the time of the UFO sightings, people reported seeing unusual objects in the sky over Washington D.C. on two Saturday nights in July 1952.
On Saturday, July 19, 1952, at 11:40 p.m., Edward Nugent, an air traffic controller at Washington National Airport, saw seven objects on his radar screen. The objects were 15 miles (24 km) south-southwest of the city. No known planes were nearby, and the objects did not follow normal flight paths. Edward’s boss, Harry Barnes, a senior air traffic controller, watched the radar and said the objects moved in ways that were very different from regular aircraft.
Harry asked two other controllers to check the radar. They confirmed it was working properly. Harry then called the control tower at Washington National Airport, where Howard Cocklin and Joe Zacko saw unknown objects on their radar and saw a bright light in the sky that moved very quickly. Howard asked Joe, “Did you see that? What the hell was that?”
Soon after, more objects appeared on the radar screen. When the objects flew over the White House and the U.S. Capitol, Harry called Andrews Air Force Base, which is 10 miles (16 km) from the airport. Andrews said they did not see unusual objects on their radar, but an airman later called the base and reported seeing a strange object. Airman William Brady saw an object that looked like a glowing orange ball with a tail. He said it moved so fast that it disappeared quickly.
At the same time, a pilot named S. C. Pierman was waiting on a runway at Washington National Airport. He saw what he thought was a meteor, but then he was told that radar had detected unknown objects near his plane. Pierman saw six white lights that moved quickly for 14 minutes. He spoke to Harry Barnes during the sighting, and Harry said the objects appeared on the radar screen near the pilot’s plane and then vanished quickly.
At Andrews Air Force Base, some radar operators thought the objects might be stars or meteors, but others believed they were something else. A staff sergeant named Charles Davenport saw an orange-red light that changed direction and altitude suddenly. At one point, both radar centers at Washington National Airport and Andrews Air Force Base tracked an object hovering over a radio beacon. The object disappeared from all three radar screens at the same time.
At 3 a.m., two U.S. Air Force jet fighters from New Castle Air Force Base in Delaware arrived over Washington. At that time, the objects vanished from the radar. When the jets left because they ran out of fuel, the objects reappeared. This made Harry Barnes believe the UFOs were listening to radio signals and reacting to them. The objects were last seen on radar at 5:30 a.m.
The sightings on July 19–20, 1952, were reported in newspapers across the country. One headline read “SAUCERS SWARM OVER CAPITAL” in large black letters. At the time, USAF Captain Edward J. Ruppelt, who led the Air Force’s UFO investigation, was in Washington. He learned about the sightings when he read the newspaper on Monday, July 21. After talking to military officials, he tried to get a car to investigate but was told only high-ranking officers could use staff cars. He then rented a taxi and left Washington to return to his office in Ohio. When he got back, he spoke to a radar expert who thought unusual weather might explain the radar readings. On July 24, two Air Force colonels flying to Colorado Springs reported seeing triangular-shaped objects.
On Saturday, July 26, 1952, at 8:15 p.m., a pilot and stewardess on a National Airlines flight saw lights above their plane. Soon after, radar at Washington National Airport and Andrews Air Force Base tracked more unknown objects. USAF master sergeant Charles E. Cummings saw the objects at Andrews and said they moved faster than shooting stars.
Albert M. Chop, a press officer for the Air Force’s UFO program, arrived at Washington National Airport and stopped reporters from photographing the radar screens for security reasons. By 9:30 p.m., the radar center detected unknown objects in all directions. Some objects moved slowly, while others changed direction and speed rapidly, with speeds up to 7,000 mph (11,250 km/h). At 11:30 p.m., two U.S. Air Force jet fighters arrived over Washington. The pilot leading the jets saw nothing, but his teammate saw four white lights and tried to chase them. He said he could not catch up to them.
After midnight on July 27, USAF Major Dewey Fournet and a Navy radar specialist, Lt. John Holcomb, arrived at the radar center. Holcomb spoke with a weather station and learned there was a slight temperature inversion over the city. He said the inversion was not strong enough to explain the clear radar signals. Fournet said everyone at the radar center believed the objects were likely solid metal objects. More jet fighters were sent, but one pilot saw nothing, and the other saw a white light that disappeared. Civilian planes also reported glowing objects that matched radar readings. The sightings ended at sunrise, as they had on July 20.
Air Force explanation
On July 29, 1952, Air Force Major Generals John Samford, who led the Air Force's Intelligence Department, and Roger M. Ramey, who led the Operations Department, held a press conference at the Pentagon. Many reporters attended the event, which was the largest Pentagon press conference since World War II. Samford said that the Air Force had studied hundreds of UFO reports over the years. He explained that some of these reports came from people who could be trusted and described unusual things, but none of these events threatened national security. He said that the lights seen over Washington were likely stars or meteors, and that radar signals showing unknown objects were probably caused by a weather condition called temperature inversion. This condition was present in the air over Washington during the time of the sightings. Samford also said that the radar signals did not come from solid objects, so they did not pose a threat. When asked if the Air Force had seen similar radar signals before, Samford said there had been hundreds of such events, but none had resulted in any confirmed findings. Press reports later called Samford and Ramey the Air Force's top experts on UFOs.
A crew from a B-25 bomber flying over Washington during the sightings reported that they saw nothing unusual, even though they were directed by National Airport radar to look at unknown targets. One crew member said that the radar had picked up a signal that turned out to be a steamboat on the Wilson Lines trip to Mount Vernon. Air Force Captain Harold May, who was at Andrews Air Force Base during the sightings, saw a light that changed colors and seemed to move strangely. However, he later said the light was probably a star distorted by the atmosphere, and its movement was an illusion. On July 27, an Eastern Airlines flight was told by radar operators that an unknown object was near their plane. The crew saw nothing unusual, and when they turned sharply to look, the object disappeared from radar.
The Air Force asked the CAA's Technical Development and Evaluation Center to study the radar sightings. Their report said that temperature inversion was likely the cause of most radar signals and visual sightings. Later, Project Blue Book labeled the radar signals as false images caused by temperature inversion and the visual sightings as misidentified stars, meteors, or city lights. In later years, scientists Donald Menzel and Philip Klass supported the idea that temperature inversion could explain the sightings. Klass said that radar technology in 1952 was not advanced enough to distinguish between ordinary objects, like birds or weather balloons, and real UFOs. He also said that the decline in UFO sightings after the 1970s was due to the use of digital filters in radar systems.
In his 1965 book, UFO researcher Jacques Vallée listed the 1952 Washington incident as an example of a case that many UFO researchers considered unimportant. Edward J. Ruppelt, who wrote The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects, said that some radar operators, control tower personnel, and Air Force officers disagreed with the Air Force's explanation. Michael Wertheimer, a researcher for the Condon Report, said in 1966 that radar operators still questioned the Air Force's explanation. In 2002, former radar controller Howard Cocklin told the Washington Post that he still believed he saw an object, saying he saw it on radar and out the window at Washington National Airport.
White House concern and CIA interest
The sightings on July 26–27 were reported in major newspapers and led President Harry Truman to ask his air force aide to contact Ruppelt for an explanation of the sightings and unusual radar signals. Truman listened to the conversation between the aide and Ruppelt through a separate phone line but did not ask questions directly. Ruppelt, recalling his earlier discussion with Captain James, told Truman’s assistant that the sightings might have been caused by a temperature inversion. This happens when warm, moist air forms a layer above cooler, drier air near the ground. This condition can cause radar signals to bend and create false readings. However, Ruppelt had not yet spoken to any witnesses or started a formal investigation.
In 1997, CIA historian Gerald Haines wrote about Truman’s concerns regarding the 1952 UFO sightings. He noted that a large number of sightings in the United States, especially in July, worried the Truman administration. On July 19 and 20, radar screens at Washington National Airport and Andrews Air Force Base detected unusual signals. These signals appeared again on July 27. In response, the CIA created a special study group within the Office of Scientific Intelligence (OSI) and Office of Current Intelligence (OCI) to examine the situation. Edward Tauss, who worked for the group, reported that most UFO sightings had simple explanations. However, he advised the CIA to continue monitoring the issue. This concern led to the formation of the Robertson Panel in January 1953.
The Robertson Panel
In 1952, the large number of UFO reports worried the United States Air Force and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Both groups were concerned that an enemy country might spread false UFO sightings to create fear among the public and prepare for a surprise attack. On September 24, 1952, the CIA's Office of Scientific Intelligence (OSI) sent a letter to Walter B. Smith, the CIA's director. The letter explained that the UFO phenomenon could affect national security because public interest in UFOs might lead to widespread fear and panic. This letter led to the formation of the Robertson Panel in January 1953. Howard P. Robertson, a scientist, led the panel, which included other respected scientists. The group spent four days reviewing the most important UFO cases collected by Project Blue Book. The panel concluded that most UFO cases were not unusual or a threat to national security. The panel suggested that the Air Force and Project Blue Book should focus less on studying UFO reports and more on explaining them to the public to reduce fear. The panel advised that the Air Force and Project Blue Book should work to remove the special attention and mystery surrounding UFOs. After this recommendation, Project Blue Book rarely shared UFO cases that were not labeled as "solved." Cases that remained unsolved were seldom discussed by the Air Force.