UFOs Over the Capitol

In July 1952, UFOs appeared over Washington, D.C. on two consecutive weekends, tracked by radar at multiple facilities. Fighter jets scrambled. The Air Force held its largest press conference since World War II. America’s capital had been invaded.

The First Wave

July 19-20, 1952:

• Saturday night
• Multiple radar contacts
• National Airport
• Andrews AFB
• Confirmed objects

The Radar Contacts

What operators saw:

• Unknown returns
• Multiple objects
• Erratic movements
• High speeds
• Stationary periods

Visual Confirmation

Not just radar:

• Pilots saw lights
• Ground observers
• Commercial pilots
• Multiple witnesses
• Corroborated

The Scramble

Military response:

• F-94 jets launched
• From Delaware
• Arrived over DC
• Objects disappeared
• Returned when jets left

Second Weekend

July 26-27, 1952:

• Same pattern
• More objects
• More radar contacts
• More witnesses
• National crisis

Press Conference

Air Force response:

• July 29, 1952
• Largest since WWII
• General Samford
• Temperature inversions
• Skeptics unconvinced

The Explanation

Official position:

• Temperature inversions
• Radar anomalies
• Misidentification
• Natural phenomena
• Case closed

Why It Failed

Problems with explanation:

• Experienced radar operators
• Visual confirmation
• Object behavior
• Multiple facilities
• Jets saw them

The Objects

What was observed:

• Bright lights
• Orange/white
• Formation flying
• Intelligent movement
• Responded to jets

Albert Chop

Press officer:

• Witnessed radar
• In control room
• Saw the contacts
• Later spoke out
• Believed authentic

Presidential Interest

Truman’s concern:

• White House watched
• CIA briefed
• Military meetings
• National security
• High priority

The Robertson Panel

CIA response:

• Secret panel formed
• January 1953
• Debunk UFOs
• Reduce reports
• Public relations

Media Coverage

Press reaction:

• Front page news
• Life Magazine
• National attention
• UFO fever
• Public interest

Significance

Multiple weekend UFO invasions of the nation’s capital with radar confirmation and military scrambles.

Legacy

The Washington D.C. flap proved UFOs couldn’t be ignored—they had appeared over the most protected airspace in the world, and no one could explain them.