Pheonix, ArizonaMay 1952

Unidentified

Summary

On the evening of May 3, 1952, two couples driving through downtown Phoenix in a convertible saw something unusual pass overhead. The object was cigar-shaped, glowing white, and traveling west at approximately 500 miles per hour. It appeared to be descending at a slight angle and seemed to emit molten drippings or possibly jet exhaust. The witnesses watched for about four seconds before the object suddenly disappeared from view.

The witnesses included a former Air Force pilot and a former Navy pilot who had also served as a celestial navigator. Both men stated that in their experience with aircraft, they had never seen anything like the object they observed. They also reported that approximately 200 people attending an outdoor party at Camelback Inn in Phoenix that same night witnessed the same phenomenon.

Air Force investigators interviewed the primary witnesses and documented their account in official intelligence reports. The file notes that the reliability of the witnesses was unknown, making it difficult to verify the truth of their claims. Weather conditions at the time were clear with good visibility, ten-mile visibility, calm winds, and a temperature around 74 degrees Fahrenheit. No photographs or other physical evidence was recovered, and no identification action was taken.

The Air Force ultimately classified the sighting as unidentified, unable to determine the object's size, shape, color, or distance. The file contains 13 pages as held by the National Archives.

Reported location

Pheonix, Arizona

Date of incident

May 1952

State / country

AZ / US

Page count

13 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 9

PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD | : | LF Loveseat lee oF ~ J [12 CONCLUSIONS | | ’ 3 Hay 52 Pheonix, Arizona 0 Wos Bolloon | | TR 10 Probably Balicon O BRTE FE BNOUP YVR OF GRR AVATION JE pnd | el Sh t . . Local 300 MOT PRERERVI X Ground- Visual 0 Ground-Radur 0 Wos Aircraft p 01 Probably Aircroft | L g#y. [23% BE Tak 0 Air Visual O Air-Intercept Rodor OO Possibly Aircraft . | I's PHGTOS Sry 8. SOURCE z Io Was Astronomical GC Yes @ "e+ Probably Astronomical! L155 CH % No Bx-AF And navy pijots GO Possibly Astronomicol 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION '8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE |O Other ___ ______________ ! 1 i 0 Insufficient Deta for Evaluation , hy seconds | . | 0 Unknown EE EE RR IR, A FE. OR, EPs EEUU S——. 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SICHTING - 11. COMMENTS . White glow color. Cigar-shaped. Object appeared to have fincness ; Clinbing at small . angle. ratio of 1:9. Observers noted : "molten drippings.” 4 ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP §2)