The Washington D.C. UFO Flap of 1952

In July 1952, unidentified flying objects appeared over the nation’s capital on two consecutive weekends, detected by radar at Washington National Airport and Andrews Air Force Base, sighted by pilots in the air and observers on the ground, and pursued by Air Force fighter jets. The Washington Flap, as it came to be known, created a national sensation and remains one of the most significant UFO incidents in American history.

The First Weekend

The events began late on the night of July 19, 1952. At 11:40 PM, air traffic controller Edward Nugent at Washington National Airport noticed seven objects on his radar screen in an area southwest of the city. The objects were not following any established flight corridors.

Other controllers confirmed the returns. The objects moved slowly, then accelerated to incredible speeds—at one point calculated at over 7,000 miles per hour. They seemed to play with the radar, appearing and disappearing, moving in ways no known aircraft could achieve.

Meanwhile, Andrews Air Force Base detected the same objects on their radar. Airman William Brady saw one of them through a tower window—an orange ball of fire that moved from south to north and disappeared.

Airline pilots in the area reported seeing strange lights. Capital Airlines pilot S.C. Pierman watched six bright lights and described them to radar operators, who confirmed the objects on their screens at the same locations.

The Jets Scramble

Two F-94 fighters were scrambled from New Castle Air Force Base in Delaware. By the time they arrived, the objects had vanished from radar. When the jets departed, the objects returned. This cat-and-mouse pattern continued through the night.

One pilot, Lieutenant William Patterson, found himself surrounded by a ring of glowing bluish-white objects. He requested permission to fire. Before he received an answer, the objects departed. Patterson described the objects as able to outmaneuver any aircraft he had ever seen.

The Second Weekend

On July 26, one week later, the objects returned. This time the radar tracking was even more extensive. National Airport, Andrews AFB, and other facilities all detected the objects. Visual sightings confirmed their presence.

Again, jets were scrambled. Again, the objects seemed to evade interception, disappearing when pursued and reappearing when the jets departed. Witnesses watched the aerial game of cat and mouse from the ground.

The incident made front-page news across the country. “SAUCERS SWARM OVER CAPITAL” read typical headlines. The public demanded answers.

The Press Conference

On July 29, 1952, the Air Force held the largest press conference since World War II. Major General John Samford, Director of Air Force Intelligence, attempted to explain the sightings.

Samford attributed the radar returns to temperature inversions—atmospheric conditions that can cause radar to detect ground objects or display false returns. He suggested that the visual sightings were misidentified stars, meteors, or aircraft.

Many observers found the explanation unconvincing. The radar operators had years of experience and knew what temperature inversions looked like on their screens. They insisted these returns were different. The pilots who had chased the objects were trained observers who knew the difference between stars and aircraft.

The CIA Response

The Washington Flap had an unexpected consequence: it alarmed the Central Intelligence Agency. The CIA was concerned not about alien spacecraft but about the potential for UFO reports to clog communications channels during a Soviet attack.

This concern led to the Robertson Panel of 1953, a scientific committee that recommended debunking UFO reports and monitoring UFO organizations. The policy of official dismissal that followed shaped government UFO responses for decades.

Analysis

The Washington Flap remains contentious. Skeptics point to documented temperature inversions over the capital during those nights, which could have caused radar anomalies. They note that visual sightings can be influenced by expectation once reports begin circulating.

Believers note that experienced radar operators distinguished between the objects and weather effects. They point to the simultaneous tracking by multiple radar stations, the visual sightings by pilots, and the behavior of the objects—playing cat and mouse with jets—as inconsistent with atmospheric phenomena.

Legacy

The 1952 Washington UFO incidents represent a unique moment when UFOs appeared over the seat of American government, tracked by military radar and witnessed by military personnel. The resulting publicity demonstrated public fascination with UFOs and triggered official concern about the phenomenon.

Whether the objects were extraterrestrial visitors, secret aircraft, atmospheric anomalies, or something else, the Washington Flap remains one of the most documented and discussed UFO events in history.