The 73rd Anniversary of the Washington, D.C., UFO Flap
By Bob Spearing
MUFON Director of International Investigations
Seventy-three years ago this summer, the United States Capital was in the midst of an incursion of UFOs in the District of Columbia air corridor.
Beginning on July 19th and ending on July 29th, 1952, objects were visually spotted as well as showing up on radar. On the 19th, Air Traffic Control at Washington International Airport spotted 7 objects taking peculiar flight paths as lightning speed in an area where no other aircraft were.
One object was reported near the airport’s tarmac and was glowing orange with a tail. Other objects were described as white, tail-less and luminous. The objects would all suddenly disappear in unison.
At about 3 A.M. two Air Force F-94 Starfire jets from New Castle Air Force Base in Delaware took off to engage the intruders but at that point the objects disappeared off radar as if monitoring our communications.
The second peak occurred on July 26th. At 11:30 P.M. two more F-94s took off to engage the objects. One of the pilots was Lieutenant William Patterson. When asked by ATC if he saw anything, he replied “They’re all around me. What should I do?” No ne answered because no one knew what to do.
In the four-year period leading up to the famous Washington D.C. Flap, the Air Force had recorded 615 reports. During the July ’52 flap, they received 717 reports. Undoubtedly, some reports were misidentifications of ordinary aircraft, fireworks and a bit of hysteria caused by the copious amount of news coverage, but many, especially those seen on radar and visually by pilots could not be explained away.
The question as to why objects were able to penetrate Washington D.C. airspace with no effort and evade our best jets is still a mystery eight decades later.
Some possible explanations for the UFOs’ interest in our capital may be that on April 15th, America’s strategic nuclear bomber, the B-52 Stratofortress, made its maiden flight. A week later on April 23, the U.S. conducted a nuclear bomb test in the Nevada desert. On June 14th, the keel was laid for the nuclear submarine U.S.S. Nautilus. On June 19th, the United States Army Special Forces was created. But most importantly, on November 1, 1952, the United States conducted its first successful test of a Hydrogen Bomb forever changing the art of war.
Interestingly enough, UFOs have been engaging our nuclear missile bases for decades sometimes shutting down missiles and sometimes causing them to suddenly to go into launch sequence. Are we dealing with friends trying to stop the nuclear aspirations of Earth Governments or are they continually probing our military capabilities for possibly darker reasons?
If you have your own UFO sighting, please submit a report to the Mutual UFO Network at www.mufon.com and click on the red report a UFO button in the upper right hand corner!
Bob Spearing is MUFON's Director of International Investigations.
He can be contacted at: doii@mufon.com
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