Project Blue Book Case File
LANCASTER, CALIF., August 1952August 1952
Summary
On the night of August 1, 1952, sheriff's deputies in the Lancaster and Leona Valley areas of California observed two brilliant red lights hovering in the southern sky. The objects appeared stationary at first, positioned about 20 degrees above the horizon. One object then descended toward the western horizon while the other remained in place. After several minutes, one object moved in an easterly direction at moderate speed and then turned south, disappearing from view. The other object stayed visible for roughly ten minutes, descending slowly with a pendulum-like motion before vanishing below the horizon. The deputies described the objects as white-yellow and elliptical in shape, about the size of a baseball, with hazy outlines. There was no audible noise from either object.
The sightings were reported by Sheriff's deputies W.D. Mallette and T.M. Morrissey, both stationed in Palmsdale. One of the witnesses had spent years as a Navy pilot and stated that the objects could not be identified as any conventional aircraft. The sightings were also witnessed by a State Fish and Game Warden and other civilians in the area. Weather conditions were clear with excellent visibility. No radar returns were recorded, and the only Air Force flight in the region at the time was an F-94C aircraft that had already landed at Edwards Air Force Base before the initial sighting was reported.
An Air Force interviewing officer obtained additional details from the deputies. The objects moved together in formation initially, traveling west while descending. The horizontal movement was described as "drifting." The case was investigated by the Air Technical Intelligence Center, and no correlation could be established with any known Air Force operation. The file indicates the evaluation was "unknown."
The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, comprising 19 pages of scanned microfilm.
Reported location
LANCASTER, CALIF., August 1952
Date of incident
August 1952
State / country
? / XX
Page count
19 scanned pages
USAF evaluation
unknown
Microfilm
T1206, Roll 13