Bethesda, MarylandApril 1952

On the morning of April 18, 1952, four civilians standing in a yard in Bethesda, Maryland saw something unusual in the sky. At around 1:30 a.m., they watched a formation of seven to nine orange-yellow lights moving north overhead. The lights were arranged in a V-shape, with one light at the point and three or four lights on each side of the V. The included angle of the formation was estimated at about 40 degrees.

The observers watched the formation for four to eight seconds. The lights appeared circular and sharply defined, each one taking up about 15 percent of the total length of one leg of the V. The formation first appeared in the southern sky at an elevation of about 60 degrees and disappeared behind trees in the north at about 30 to 60 degrees elevation. One observer, who had excellent eyesight, estimated the lights were traveling at a speed equivalent to 500 miles per hour at an altitude of 1,000 feet. No sound accompanied the objects, and the weather was clear with no clouds visible.

The Air Force investigated by checking whether jet aircraft were in the area at the time. Investigators found no jets were known to be operating there that night. They also confirmed that the four observers had not read a Life Magazine article about a similar sighting in Lubbock, Texas, before witnessing the Bethesda incident. The investigators interviewed all four witnesses, and their accounts matched closely.

The Air Force concluded that the incident remained unexplained. The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, comprising 8 pages.