Washington DC UFO
1952
The 1952 Washington D.C. UFO incident, also known as the Washington flap or the Washington National Airport Sightings, was a series of unidentified flying object reports from July 12 to July 29, 1952, over Washington D.C. The most publicized sightings took place on consecutive weekends, July 19-20th and July 26-27th
At 11:40 p.m. on Saturday, July 19, 1952, Edward Nugent, an air-traffic controller at Washington National Airport, spotted seven objects on his radar. The objects were located 15 miles south-southwest of the city; no known aircraft were in the area and the objects were not following any established flight paths. Nugent's superior, Harry Barnes, a senior air-traffic controller at the airport, watched the objects on Nugent's radarscope. He later wrote: "We knew immediately that a very strange situation existed ... their movements were completely radical compared to those of ordinary aircraft". Barnes had two controllers check Nugent's radar; they found that it was working normally. Barnes then called National Airport's other radar center; the controller there, Howard Cocklin, told Barnes that he also had the objects on his radarscope. Furthermore, Cocklin said that by looking out of the control tower window he could see one of the objects: "a bright orange light. I can't tell what's behind it".
At this point, other objects began to appear in all sectors of the radarscope, flickering intermittently against the dark backdrop of the screen; when they moved silently over the White House and the United States Capitol, a sense of urgency compelled Barnes to call Andrews Air Force Base, which was located a mere 10 miles from National Airport. Although Andrews initially reported that they had no unusual objects detected on their radar, an airman soon called the base's control tower to relay his alarming sighting of a strange, unidentified object hovering in the vicinity.
Airman William Brady, who was stationed in the control tower at the time, then witnessed an "object which appeared to be like an orange ball of fire, trailing a tail that emitted an intense glow ... it was truly unlike anything I had ever seen before." As Brady scrambled to alert the other personnel in the tower about the extraordinary phenomenon, the strange object "took off at an unbelievable speed that left us all in stunned disbelief." Meanwhile, another individual working in the National Airport control tower also reported seeing "an orange disk hovering at approximately 3,000 feet altitude," creating a sense of urgency and curiosity among the staff.
On one of the bustling airport's numerous runways, S.C. Pierman, an experienced Capital Airlines pilot, was patiently waiting inside the cockpit of his trusty DC-4, eagerly anticipating permission to take off. As he gazed out at the sky, he suddenly spotted what he initially believed to be a meteor streaking across the atmosphere. However, moments later, he received alarming news that the control tower's radar had detected unknown objects rapidly closing in on his position. Pierman, his heart racing, observed six distinct objects moving in an unusual formation. - "white, tailless, fast-moving lights" - over a span of approximately 14 minutes. During this time, Pierman was actively in radio contact with his colleague Barnes while he was making his sighting. Barnes later related that "each sighting coincided with a pip we could see near his plane. When he reported that the light streaked off at a high speed, it disappeared on our scope."
At Andrews AFB, meanwhile, the diligent control tower personnel were actively tracking on their radar what some initially thought to be potential unknown objects in the sky, but others among them suspected, and in one notable instance were able to convincingly prove, were simply stars and meteors. However, amidst these various sightings, Staff Sgt. Charles Davenport keenly observed an intriguing orange-red light to the south; this peculiar light "would appear to stand still, then make an abrupt change in direction and altitude ... this unusual phenomenon happened several times," capturing the attention of those monitoring the skies.
At one point, both radar centers at National Airport and the radar positioned at Andrews AFB were meticulously tracking an unidentified object that was hovering inexplicably over a radio beacon. Strikingly, the object suddenly vanished from all three radar centers simultaneously, raising eyebrows among the observers. At precisely 3 a.m., just moments before two agile jet fighters from Newcastle AFB in Delaware arrived in the skies above Washington, all of the mysterious objects disappeared entirely from the radar at National Airport. However, when the jets eventually ran low on fuel and had to leave the area, the objects astonishingly returned to the radar screens, which led Barnes to conclude that "the UFOs were monitoring radio traffic and behaving accordingly." The objects were ultimately last detected by radar at 5:30 a.m. Around the time of sunrise, E.W. Chambers, a civilian radio engineer residing in the suburbs of Washington, observed an unusual phenomenon. "five huge disks circling in a loose formation. They tilted upward and left on a steep ascent."
The extraordinary sightings that took place on the nights of July 19-20, 1952, captured the attention of the entire nation, making dramatic front-page headlines in newspapers across various states. A typical and notable example was the eye-catching headline that appeared in the Cedar Rapids Gazette in Iowa. It boldly proclaimed, "SAUCERS SWARM OVER CAPITAL," printed in large, attention-grabbing black type, which undoubtedly left a lasting impression on its readers.
By sheer coincidence, USAF Captain Edward J. Ruppelt, who served as the diligent supervisor of the Air Force's Project Blue Book investigation into the perplexing UFO mystery, was in Washington at the time of the sightings. However, he did not become aware of these intriguing sightings until the following Tuesday, July 22, when he happened to read the bold headlines in a prominently placed article in a Washington-area newspaper.
After engaging in extensive discussions with various intelligence officers stationed at the Pentagon regarding the unexplained sightings, Ruppelt dedicated several hours of his time trying to procure a staff car to facilitate a thorough investigation into the incidents. Unfortunately, he was met with resistance, as the rules dictated that only generals and senior colonels were permitted to utilize staff cars for such missions. In a rather frustrating turn of events, he was informed that his only option was to rent a taxicab using his own personal funds. By this point, Ruppelt was overwhelmed with frustration and disappointment, prompting him to leave Washington in haste and catch a flight back to Blue Book's headquarters located at Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio. Before departing the nation’s capital, Ruppelt did manage to have a conversation with an Air Force radar specialist, Captain Roy James, who offered a perspective suggesting that unusual weather conditions could potentially explain the strange unknown radar targets they had been investigating.
July 26-27, 1952
At 8:15 p.m. on the evening of Saturday, July 26, 1952, a pilot and stewardess aboard a National Airlines flight approaching Washington, D.C., encountered some remarkably strange and unidentifiable objects positioned just above their aircraft. Within moments of this unsettling sighting, both radar centers at National Airport and the radar facility at Andrews Air Force Base began tracking multiple unknown objects that appeared to be moving in an unusual manner. A master sergeant stationed at Andrews visually observed these peculiar objects in the sky; he later reported that "these lights did not have the characteristics of shooting stars. There were no trails ... they traveled faster than any shooting star I have ever seen".
Meanwhile, Albert M. Chop, the press spokesman for the well-known Project Blue Book, arrived at National Airport with a sense of urgency and purpose. Upon his arrival, he firmly refused several reporters' persistent requests to photograph the highly classified radar screens. Following his brief interaction with the press, he proceeded to join the dedicated personnel at the radar center. By this time, which was approximately 9:30 p.m., the radar center was registering unknown and unidentified objects in seemingly every sector of the radar display. At times, these mysterious objects traversed the skies at a leisurely pace; however, at other moments, they abruptly reversed direction and raced across the radarscope at astonishing speeds that were calculated to reach an incredible 7,000 mph.
At precisely 11:30 p.m., two high-performance jet fighters, dispatched from Newcastle Air Force Base in Delaware, arrived in the skies over Washington, D.C. Capt. John McHugo, serving as the flight leader, was expertly vectored towards the radar pips indicating potential aerial activity, yet despite his repeated and diligent attempts to locate the source, he saw absolutely nothing unusual. However, his wingman, the keen-eyed Lt. William Patterson, did spot four mysterious white "glows" in the distance and instinctively took off in pursuit of them. In a startling turn of events, these "glows" abruptly changed direction and encircled Patterson’s fighter jet. In a moment of bewilderment, Patterson reached out to the control tower at National Airport, seeking guidance on how to proceed; according to Chop, the response he received was one of complete and bewildered stunned silence. The four unidentified objects then accelerated away from Patterson's jet at an astonishing speed and vanished without a trace.
After midnight on July 27, Major Dewey Fournet, who served as Project Blue Book's liaison at the Pentagon, along with a Lt. Holcomb, an experienced Air Force radar specialist, arrived at the critical radar center located at National Airport. Throughout the night, Lt. Holcomb received an intriguing call from the Washington National Weather Station. The officials informed him that there was a slight temperature inversion existing over the city, which they deemed significant; however, Holcomb felt strongly that this particular inversion was not "nearly strong enough to explain the 'good and solid' returns" being observed on the radarscopes at that time.
Fournet relayed that all those present in the radar room were entirely convinced that the targets they were monitoring were most likely caused by solid metallic objects, leading to a palpable sense of intrigue and concern among the personnel. There had indeed been weather targets on the radar scope too, he said, but this was a common occurrence, and the controllers, unperturbed by the usual anomalies, "were paying no attention to them." In response to the situation, two more jets from Newcastle Air Force Base were scrambled during the night to investigate further. One pilot saw nothing unusual during his flight; however, the other pilot moved towards a mysterious white light which suddenly "vanished" when he got closer. Meanwhile, a Capital Airlines flight departing from Washington spotted "odd lights" in the sky that remained visible for about twelve minutes, creating a sense of wonder among the passengers. As on July 20, the sightings and unknown radar returns inexplicably ended at sunrise, leaving many questions lingering in the minds of those involved.