DOW-UAP-D105, U.S. Air Force Flying Discs File, 1952
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.
The summary above is sourced from the released file metadata as published to war.gov. The analysis sections below are original to this tracker.
Text of the document
Machine-extracted from the PDF war.gov published (its text layer or OCR), so expect errors, especially in names, numbers and handwriting; the PDF is the authoritative copy. Lines that did not extract as readable text are left out. Showing about 995 words from pages 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18 of 253.
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Chiet, ATIC, Uri ght-Patterson AFB, Ohio Forwarded tor ~our action are tour 1ncl oaures, all on FLlOB• s. 2. AF Df 2127 Deputy Director for Estimates accordance witfi Par 25~ AFR 205-1. SECURITY INFORMATION
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Public Information Division United States Coast Guard Dear Mrs. Mead: In oompliance with your telephone request of 15 December, , 1952 attached will be found the n~gative of the photo ot "ltj unidentified objects taken 16 July 1952, at Salem Air Station, ( We sincerelJr appreciate the cooperation of personnel of the United St ates Coast Guard in this natter. 0 Yours very tru.l.y, Encl. WILLIAM A. ADAMS C"l Chiet, Topical Division Deputy Director tor Estimates Directorate of Intelllgenee, DCS/0
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MEMORANDUM FOR RECORD 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: 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. ; . Subject negative returned by attached letter in com pliance with the request of the USCG.
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HEADQUARTERS STRATEGIC AIR COMMAND OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE OMAHA, NEBRASKA SUBJECT: (Unclassified) FLYOBRPT TO: Director of Intelligence Headquarters USAF The attached Air Intelligence Information Reports are forwarded as per instructions AFL 200-5, dated 29 April 1952, subject, FLYOBRPT.
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HEADQUARTERS STRATEGIC A.IR COMMAND OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE OMAHA, NEBRASKA SUBJECT, (Unclaasified.) FLYOBRPT TOa Director of Intelligence Headquarters USAF The attached ilr Intelligence Information Reports are tor~nrded as per inetructions AFL 200-5, dated 29 April 1952, subject, FLYOBRPT. FOR 'l'HC CO MNDIOO GENERAL, Asst Adj Con
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fh• Secretary or Detense has asked me to rep}¥ to your letter of 13 Uovember 1952, tile DS, forwarding a report, of an observation of an unidentified .tlying object eutmitted b7.Mr. Jacques Petitjean ~The Air Force ha• been given pri.larr responsibility tor the production ot intelligence on this subject.. We were ver,- pleased to receiye tbie report. and would apprac1at• &n7additional. report• which the Consulate at ltartin1~e 1• able to turnish us. , Colonel, USAF Chief, Topical Division
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MEMORANDUM FOR RECORD 1. To prepare a letter to the Department of State tor the Secretary of Detonse. FACTS AND DISCUSSION: 2. In a letter dated 13 November 1952, the Department of State transmitted to the Secretary of Defense, a copy of a letter trom Mr. Jacques Petitjean Roget of Martinique, F. I. reporting the obserYation of an unidentified flying object. 'lbe Department of State requested in!ormation regarding our desire to obtain additional reports ot this 3. The Office of the Secretary ot De.tense instructed the Air Force to prepare direct reply to the Department of State. 4. 'lb• attached reply to the Dapartnlent of State expresses the appreciation ot the Air Force tor their cooperation in this matter and indicates our desire to receive additional reports which they mention are &Tailable from this area. 5. Subject matter is not considered suitable tor inclusion in the Daily Staff Digest. 6. Approval, signature and forwarding of attached reply.
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TO ATIC SUBJ a ~eonf!dbliC!Bl ) Background Investigation or Des Vergers, D.s., for Project Blue Book 1. The inolosed report was prepared by the Directorate of Special Investigations, this Hq, in compliance with a specific request from thi s office. It is for your informatjon and retention• FILED UNDER 383.4 L~VESTIGATJONS CIVILIANS
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MEMORANDtll FOR RF.CORD of TRUE magazine. FACTS AND DISCUSSION: 2. By personal letter to General Samtord dated l4 November 52, Mr. Purdy forwarded a copy o! the D~cember issue ot TRUE magazine tor General Samtord1s perusal since it contained an article on "flying saucers" by Donald Ke,noe. Mr. Purdy considered this article to be ot possible interest. J. Mr. Purdy had forwarded in sbd.lar tashion a previous issue ot TRUE lfhich contained another article on the same subject. A repl3 signed by General Samford, expressing his appreciation, was sent to Mr. Purdy. A precedence was thereby established. his latest letter. It is \llrltten in the tirat person traa General 5. That the attached rep~ be signed by General Samford and dis AFOIH-2A2, Col Smith, Ext. 71016tf4A,1#/ AFOIN-2, Col Morrow, Ext. 7lllO
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THE MAN'S lllAGAZINI! Major General John A. Samford Director of Intelligence U Air Force near General Samford, In view of your kindness in commenting on TRUE' s recent exposure of the flying-saucer 11l ittle men" hoax, I feel that perhaps our latest report on the saucer problem, in the ]}ecember issue which will appear next Wednesday, will be of interest to you. Ken Purdy
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ORIGI N OF BASIC DATE TYPE DATE SUBJECT ASSIGNED BY Letter of Appreciation Initial 11 lN 11 column to denote review prior to action. lnitjaJ "OUT" column to denote revjew of comple t ed action. (X-lor action: V-lor coordination) IN OFFICE OUT IN OFFICE OUT IN OFFICE IN OFFICE OUT SR NAVAL OFF SR ARMY OFF TO: DATE FROM: COMMENT NUMBER C°""'ENTS (Use reverse, if necessary) The attached correspondence if transmitted for forwarding to OIN for signature and dispatch. Captain, USAF PREV10U$ EDITIONS OF THIS FORM ARE OBSOLETE.
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HEADQUARTERS STRATEGIC AIR COMMANI) OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE OMAHA, NEBRASKA SUBJECT: (Unclassified) FLYOBRPI' TO: Director of Intelligence Headquarter s USAF The at t ached Air Intelligence Information Reports are forwarded as per instructions AFL 200-5, dat ed 29 April 1952, subject , FUOBRPT. MAJOR. USAF
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MEMORAHDUM FORt DIRECTOR OF HAVAL INT&LLICENCE SUBJECT: Interpretation of Movies o.t Unidentified F~ Objects i -· l. Further to our Memorandum dated 24 October .52., eame subject as above., it is requested that t.he inclosed roll of 161111 Kodachrome aovie f'ilm be anal;yzed 1n the same manner as the film previously for
Where this file fits in the PURSUE archive
This file is one of DoD's 282 files in the Trump PURSUE disclosure. Within the DoD agency block it ranks #159 of 282 by Anomalousness Index. Across the entire 478-file archive it ranks #283 of 478.
That places it in the lower-scoring band of the archive (283 of 478 by score), typical of investigative-record style files where the report is paper-based rather than instrumented.
Anomalousness Index: 56/100
Evidentiary weight that this encounter remains unexplained after conventional analysis. Not a probability of extraterrestrial origin - that number is not honestly computable from the released files and this tracker refuses to publish it.
🤖 AI-ASSISTED SCORING · methodology
The six rubric components break down for this file as follows. Each component has a weighted contribution to the final score; the per-component explanation below describes what this file's particular value on that component means in the rubric's framework.
No sensor, camera, or instrument backs this observation - it is testimony, relayed through the Department of War, and scored on the rubric's lowest sensor-quality tier for that reason. That doesn't bear on the witness's credibility (a separate axis); it reflects only that nothing beyond human perception recorded the event.
The file compiles Air Force Director of Intelligence records from military and other sources rather than one witness's account. The rubric scores this axis from the originating service, a high witness-credibility tier ranked below astronaut, trained-aviator, and federal-agent testimony.
On corroboration, this file from the Department of War - like every single-tier file in the PURSUE archive - is a single-witness or single-instrument capture per the released metadata. The rubric doesn't infer multi-witness confirmation the summaries don't actually establish; this score reflects the honest limit of what was released, not a judgment about the underlying event.
The released file contains no speed, acceleration, or vector data precise enough to score on the kinematic axis - and that's true archive-wide, not specific to this file. The rubric declines to infer kinematic anomaly from a witness's narrative estimate of how fast something moved; that itself says something about what PURSUE actually released: descriptive accounts, not flight-path telemetry.
Every file in the archive, including this one, scores this tier: a conventional explanation was considered in the released record but isn't treated as dispositive. That's a pattern in how war.gov's own summaries are written - they consistently hedge against strong conclusions either way - and the rubric takes that hedging at face value rather than resolving it for them.
This file was released as open by the Department of War after a formal review process concluded - not simply logged and left pending. That's a stronger disposition signal than 'unresolved, no review': a review actually happened, and remaining open is the Department of War's own published conclusion from it, not an absence of one.
Bottom line on the score: the Anomalousness Index of 56/100 reflects evidentiary weight that this specific file's encounter remains structurally unexplained by the rubric's six axes - it is not a claim that the underlying event involved anything non-conventional, and it is not comparable across rubrics that use different weights. For the full per-axis weights and the rubric JSON, see /methodology.
Related files in DoD
Other PURSUE files in the same category, ranked by Anomalousness Index.
DOW-UAP-PR024, Unresolved UAP Report, Middle East, 2023
DOW-UAP-PR072, "ADMINISTRATIVE REVISION: IIR 1777 J0032 22 Kazakhstan - UAP in the vicinit…
DOW-UAP-PR106, Unresolved UAP Report, Eastern United States, 2020
DOW-UAP-PR108, Unresolved UAP Report, Western United States, 2020
DOW-UAP-PR109, Unresolved UAP Report, Eastern United States, 2015
DOW-UAP-PR110, Unresolved UAP Report, Eastern United States, 2020
Verification
SHA-256:
This hash is the SHA-256 of the file body war.gov served on the verification date above. War.gov has re-processed some file bodies since first release (re-compression + OCR, no content removed - see /changes); we re-verify and record the change rather than silently serve a stale hash. How to check this yourself →