EL PASO, TEXASFebruary 1952

Unidentified

Summary

On February 25, 1952, Captain John D. Musick of the 1st Strategic Support Squadron at Biggs Air Force Base in El Paso, Texas was photographing a rainbow from his home when he noticed a circular shape near it. The circle disappeared before he could get a clear look, but he took a picture anyway. When he developed the film in his home darkroom several days later, two circular objects appeared on the negative that he had not seen with his own eyes at the time of photography. The objects resembled the planet Saturn.

Musick brought the negatives to Biggs Air Force Base, where intelligence personnel examined and enlarged the prints. Inspecting the film under a microscope, photo interpreters discovered that the two "objects" were actually caused by small damaged spots on the negative itself. The damage appeared to be brownish burn marks in the film's emulsion, possibly from the film being bent or damaged during processing. The cause of these flaws was determined to be unknown, though they were not caused by anything Musick intended or expected.

An Air Force investigation followed to determine whether Musick had submitted the photographs knowingly as a hoax. After questioning him and reviewing his statement about how he developed the film, investigators concluded that the damage to the negative was accidental. Musick had used proper fine-grain developing techniques and brought the negatives to the Air Force in good faith once he discovered the puzzling images. The Air Force determined that no disciplinary action was warranted and that his efforts were appreciated. The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, 16 pages.

Reported location

EL PASO, TEXAS

Date of incident

February 1952

State / country

TX / US

Page count

16 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 9

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