Washington, D.C. UFO Sighting (July 1952) — AARO Records (D214P20)
A first saucer wave case from Washington, D.C.. In July and August 1952, a radio broadcaster claimed a USN jet fired upon a two-foot diameter glowing disc over Washington, D.
Background
In July 1952, in Washington, D.C., the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) recorded the unidentified-phenomenon case described below. The case is preserved in AARO’s 2024-2025 publications and consolidated annual reports to Congress, declassified or released in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and Department of Defense reporting cycles.
One of the first wave of “flying saucer” reports that swept the united states after the kenneth arnold sighting of june 1947 and the roswell incident of july 1947.
The case appears in materials produced or curated by the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office.
What the document records
In July and August 1952, a radio broadcaster claimed a USN jet fired upon a two-foot diameter glowing disc over Washington, D.C., dislodging a one-pound fragment. The fragment was allegedly recovered by a ground team. Project Blue Book and the USAF/USN found no record of such an incident.
Verbatim from the file
“a USN jet fired on a two-foot diameter glowing disc and dislodged a one-pound fragment”
Type of case
The witnesses described the object as disc- or saucer-shaped.
Status
AARO designates unresolved cases as those for which the agency has not concluded the events were anomalous, has not concluded that they were conventional, and has not ruled out either possibility. Conventional candidates for sightings of recent periods include commercial drones, classified test platforms, satellite re-entry, balloon traffic, atmospheric optical phenomena, and astronomical objects.