Richmond, CaliforniaAugust 1952

Unidentified

Summary

In August 1952, an observer in Richmond, California reported seeing a round, orange object that circled overhead and then faded into darkness. The sighting lasted about thirty seconds around 1556 Pacific Daylight Time on August 23. The observer watched the object through binoculars from the ground. The object's behavior and appearance, a bright orange or reddish color, roughly the size of a nickel when held at arm's length, moving in a circular path with no sound, led the Air Force to note that weather balloons were apparent in the area at that time. The case file is sparse on additional investigative details, focusing mainly on the initial report.

The Air Force marked its conclusion as "probably balloon" based on the timing, appearance, and the known presence of balloon activity in the region. This case appears in 20 pages of declassified Air Force records now held by the National Archives.

Reported location

Richmond, California

Date of incident

August 1952

State / country

CA / US

Page count

20 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 14

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 20

View transcribed text

,
)
~
\
ui ¥ PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD
BE ——— FE ——— T_T RE SSRIS SOUR. JV —— — P—
DATE (LOCATION ( 12. CONCLUSISNS |
2300s ts 52 + Richawond, Culifornic {Was Baliecn :
i iii eins wb on wy ) - “robadly Balloon | :
n= dic RR rl eh a, ee i 1 sites Sms ates sh apa tte eee s A go tl Boba |
OATE-TIME GROUP 4d. TYPE OF QO3SERVATION “~e ’ y
£0 PY fap 3 i 3 WE RR
HO RR tas QCC50 RE H 25 Grounag- Vi sue! 3 Grouvnd-Rador ae - Avrcraf \
i [ roosbly Asrcrare \
OM AEC pe TL NR IAB hh O Ai Visual 0 Alrcintercent Zadar “i Possibly Acreraie
PrHoTGS 8. SOURCE (3 Was Asrronomicol
{) Yos 1 "ry it | Froocoly Astrargn col H
12 No CCC 0 Pes sbiy Astronomical
LENGTH OF CASERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS 9. COURSE CES Ray AI PT ;
: 3 insutficient Data for Evaluation | i
30 5Ce onda 1 i Ww Vv Un<crnown 1 |
BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS : iy
" | {
| Round, oranse - sunset Eo
» { “ " , Da :
Cireling. + balloons nore gpparent at this tivo. | :
| |
i i i
| | | os
: | : |
|
i ) i |
. H H i
| or a |
t i
1) 3
1 |]
[ [ |
i - {
| |
: FE]
{
I — ———— Se HO A BP ——————————— "0 AYA Ny - — Poth Ft eee eee eee teen | i
| TIC FORM 32% REV 26 SEP 52) i
T —— GP <a PRR OO AAR AY
TE  — —— ———————a—— ;

. EE ——————————————————— [)
|
|

A FE A Rs ss ad Cad Se shit v

/ 20

Use ← → keys to navigate · scans hosted by the U.S. National Archives

Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28948794