Type: Aerial Sighting (radar + visual)
Date: July 19 - July 29, 1952
Time: 11:40 PM Washington National Airport and surrounding airspace (near White House/Capitol)
At 11:40 p.m. on Saturday, July 19, 1952, a Washington National Airport air traffic controller, Edward Nugent, spotted seven objects on his radar. The objects were located 15 miles (24 km) south-southwest of the city. No known aircraft were in the area, and the objects were not following any established flight paths.
Radar at Washington National Airport and Andrews AFB near Washington D.C. tracked erratic objects in restricted airspace. Visual confirmations also came from pilots and controllers. Jets were scrambled but objects outmaneuvered them. The wave drew major military and national attention.
The CIA eventually formed a special study group within the Office of Scientific Intelligence (OSI) and Office of Current Intelligence (OCI) to review the situation.
Witness descriptions included:
- white, tailless, fast-moving lights,
- a hovering "bright light"
- object which appeared to be like an orange ball of fire, trailing a tail
- the light "would appear to stand still, then make an abrupt change in direction and altitude ... this happened several times
- white "glows"
GPS Coordinates: 38.8521 -77.0377
