BURLEY, IDAHOJuly 1952

In late July 1952, ground observers near Burley, Idaho, reported seeing a group of unidentified flying objects moving at high speed across the sky. The sighting occurred on July 28 at 2150 Mountain Standard Time (9:50 p.m.). According to witnesses, approximately twenty objects flew in a loose V formation from north to south, moving so fast that they remained visible for only a brief moment.

The objects were described as oval in shape and appeared to be trailing a tail of flame roughly three times their own length. Witnesses said the objects were flying at a very high altitude, though no precise altitude estimate was recorded in the file. No sound was heard. The sighting was observed visually by several people on the ground in both Burley and nearby Payette, Idaho. Weather conditions at the time were clear with thirty miles of visibility.

The Air Force received a report of an American Airlines flight (Flight 513) that observed two or three similar objects around the same time near Tyrone, Pennsylvania, roughly 2,200 miles away. Two F-86 jet fighters were dispatched to investigate both sightings but reported seeing nothing. An Air Force transport plane that was over Burley at the time of the Idaho sighting also reported observing no objects. The case file notes that there was no known air traffic in the area that could account for the sightings, and no physical evidence was recovered. The Air Force concluded it could offer no explanation for the observations.

The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, comprising 27 pages of declassified records.