WASHINGTON, D.C., November 1952November 1952

On November 11, 1952, ten members of the Atomic Energy Commission Security Force at Los Alamos, New Mexico, reported observing a round, bright object that flashed red and green. The object remained nearly stationary for roughly forty minutes before suddenly disappearing. Observers were stationed at different locations around the AEC installation and watched through clear skies. One officer who had studied aerial phenomena in the past concluded that the object could have been a star with light filtering through high-altitude dust particles, which would account for the color changes. The file notes that no radar contact was made with the object, and a review of balloon launchings in the western states ruled out that explanation. No aircraft were in the area at the time.

On November 12, 1952, at approximately 1540 (3:40 p.m.), another witness near Lott, Texas, observed two objects described as cloud-grey and globular in form, seemingly connected by a wispy band. The objects moved from southeast to northeast and back west over a brief period. The observer was a longtime amateur astronomer and radio enthusiast. Weather conditions were clear with five-knot winds. An investigator noted that the observer's companion attempted to discredit the sighting, and that the observer's enthusiasm suggested his imagination may have influenced his judgment.

A more complex and well-documented sighting occurred on November 12, 1952, near Bethesda, Maryland. Multiple witnesses at the National Institutes of Health observed one or more dark, loaf-shaped objects. The first object was spotted at 10:29 (10:29 a.m.) by a research technician looking east-northeast. As witnesses gathered at the window, the object rose and moved erratically, at times changing shape dramatically, from loaf-like to coin-shaped to bean-bag-like, with the short dimension sometimes shrinking to nearly invisible. The object gave off smoke trails and moved both slowly and, at other times, at remarkably fast speeds. Observers reported the object was translucent rather than transparent, with a gray to black color. It disappeared multiple times and reappeared in nearly the same location before vanishing entirely around 10:45 (10:45 a.m.). Some observers saw smoke billowing where the object had disappeared, which then seemed to form back into the object shape. The file includes detailed questionnaires from multiple witnesses with drawings of the object's movements and shape changes. An Army doctor from Walter Reed Hospital claimed a USAF helicopter was in the area, but geographic analysis indicated this explanation did not fit the observations. Inquiries in the Wheaton area uncovered only one claim of relevance, a foreman reporting brown hawks that morning. The file does not state an official Air Force conclusion regarding this sighting.

The OCR rendition is imperfect in many passages, particularly on pages 21-23, where most text is garbled beyond reliable transcription. Nevertheless, the case file as a whole documents three distinct sightings from November 1952, with the Bethesda observation being the most thoroughly investigated and recorded. The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, comprising 184 pages.