CLINTON, Md., September 1952September 1952

Insufficient Data

Summary

On September 10, 1952, a woman living near Andrews Air Force Base in Clinton, Maryland, spotted something unusual in the sky outside her home. The object was shiny and metallic with an elliptical shape, about the size of a half dollar when held at arm's length. It made no sound and had no visible exhaust. The sighting lasted between two and three minutes.

The object moved rapidly back and forth over a small area of sky at a steep angle, roughly 70 degrees above the horizon. Then it rose sharply and disappeared. The woman's husband, a civilian intelligence officer at Andrews AFB, reported the sighting to Air Force investigators. He noted that his wife had only limited knowledge of aircraft types and no background in aviation.

Investigators checked with radar operators and tower personnel at both Washington National Airport and Andrews AFB. All reported seeing nothing unusual at the time of the sighting. Weather conditions at the time were clear with eight-mile visibility and calm winds. No weather balloons (rawinsonde balloons used to measure atmospheric conditions) were being released in the area at the exact moment of the sighting, though two had been launched earlier in the day and one was released later.

The Air Force concluded that the case remained unknown. The full case file, reproduced below as held by the National Archives, spans 13 pages.

Reported location

CLINTON, Md., September 1952

Date of incident

September 1952

State / country

? / XX

Page count

13 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 15

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 13

View transcribed text

, ” - al Gia " Iba FE XPERIA ARR UA APEC AR
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gpm PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD | | Hi | |
———— ee ib sail. —————— ee — S————— | ———————— { 3
Iv OAVE . LOQATION ¥ vA «12 CONCLUSIONS |
i : wt ’
: : i CLetys aN ies ’ o . RT
SA Nae 8D ! pnd 0 RO ~ — Was Baliven |
i PGs AE Sond mr Bee ee 2 'C Probably Salioen
3. DATETim: GROUP "4. TYPE UF OBSERVATION TREO Wien
i 1k 3 i Ps Y Gg Ww +f |
| TTIIRREES C8 BMS Sound: Visual Z Ground-Rador 2. NOY Adare i
i : = Probably Aircraft |
Ty AheSTRRER Sr Cae Te : 2 Aire Visual O Aursintercept Rager = Possibiy Arrcralr ;
"8. PHOTSS CR. ————— SME ne sus  — SW —— a  —————— ——— —— — id 3
. PROTOS | Oe CO Was Astronomical
: a. AY . da L IS : 8 Probably Astronomical
PR ) Civilian wa 0 Possibly Astronomical i | 1
7. LENGTH OF C3SERVATION |S. NUMSTR OF OBJECTS 9. COURSE RANE RE | OMEN :
. Pll SEO SPE) SE . 32 dnwofficient Dota for Evaluation
“eg DIGeS A i Unknown )
10. LRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING ; ’ 1. COMMENTS Ss ERR AT EC
i enelly colors ZIZllipticel shane, Drratic.
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ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP $2)
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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28949718