The White House has released a batch of newly declassified UFO files dating back to 1952, including color footage of unidentified, disc-like objects swarming over Tremonton, Utah. The documents, described as historical UFO-sighting records, put a decades-old military mystery back in the national spotlight just as federal agencies ramp up efforts to make anomalous aerial phenomena records public.
A Navy Photographer's Chance Encounter
The footage at the center of the release was shot on July 2, 1952, by U.S. Navy Chief Warrant Officer Delbert C. Newhouse, according to footage details shared on YouTube. Newhouse captured footage of objects moving over Tremonton. Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy reported that the newly released documents showcase video footage of unexplained aerial phenomena, according to Fox News.
Project Blue Book reviewed the footage, and later assessments became more confident that the objects were seabirds, according to the UNT Digital Library.
1952 Was Already a Record Year for Sightings
The Tremonton footage did not emerge in isolation. The summer of 1952 produced a record number of UFO reports across the country, culminating in a wave of unidentified radar blips and visual sightings over Washington, D.C., that prompted Air Force fighter jets to intercept the objects over the capital, according to the same UNT Digital Library archive. Public anxiety over what became known as the Washington Flap grew as the Air Force responded to the sightings, as detailed by EurAsian Times.
That pressure culminated on July 29, 1952, when Air Force Director of Intelligence Major General John A. Samford held the largest and longest Air Force news conference since World War II, attributing the radar anomalies over the capital to atmospheric temperature inversions. Samford said the sightings posed no national-security threat while describing the temperature-inversion explanation as having approximately a 50/50 probability, according to the Fandom Military Wiki.
Military Analysts Review the Tremonton Film
The Tremonton footage was examined by military photo reconnaissance laboratories, a detail noted in discussion threads on Reddit.
Modern government interest in these historical cases traces back to 2008, when the Defense Intelligence Agency launched the Advanced Aerospace Weapons System Applications Program with $22 million in funding; then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid advocated for the effort, which researched far-term technologies. Contract research was carried out by Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Studies, according to Reason Magazine. Fox News separately referenced a 2008 expense report detailing a $22 million government investigation into unexplained aerial phenomena.
Efforts to Make Records Public
The 1952 files are surfacing now amid efforts to make historical UAP records public.
Physical Evidence Still Comes Back Terrestrial
Even as historical footage resurfaces, the Pentagon's official position on physical evidence has not changed. In a March 2024 historical review report, the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office stated that a piece of metal purportedly recovered from a UAP likely originated on Earth. The office maintains that while many historical military UAP sightings remain unresolved due to limited sensor data, no confirmed evidence of extraterrestrial craft exists, according to a report shared on Facebook by NewsNation.
The Tremonton footage has kept the decades-old Utah case in circulation.
