The Washington National UFO Incident

Multiple radar contacts and visual sightings over Washington D.C. prompted military scrambles and national headlines during two consecutive weekends.

Project Blue Book Case 1352 documented radar anomalies and visual reports over Washington D.C. on July 19-20 and July 26-27, 1952. Multiple witnesses including air traffic controllers and military personnel reported unidentified aerial phenomena. F-94 interceptors were dispatched. Investigation concluded atmospheric conditions, specifically temperature inversions, caused false radar returns and visual mirages. Case classified as explained natural phenomena.

Washington National Airport Radar Logs

Air traffic controllers Harry G. Barnes (senior controller) and Edward Nugent documented multiple unidentified radar contacts on the night of July 19-20, 1952. Barnes, with over a decade of radar experience, recorded objects moving at calculated speeds exceeding 7,200 mph before coming to complete stops. The CAA radar logs show contacts appearing simultaneously on multiple scopes at Washington National Airport. The radar returns showed objects hovering over the White House and Capitol Building restricted airspace for extended periods. Barnes noted the contacts were "solid objects" - not the diffuse, shifting returns typical of weather phenomena. Ground Control Approach radar operator Joe Zacko independently confirmed multiple contacts, describing them as "the most brilliant radar targets I've ever seen" on his scope. Official radar data was collected by Project Blue Book investigators, though complete logs remain partially classified. Declassified portions appear in the National Archives Project Blue Book files, digitized in 2015. How could multiple experienced radar operators simultaneously misidentify the same atmospheric conditions as solid, maneuvering objects?

Source: CAA/Project Blue Book • July 1952

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