| aliens - ufo sightings - washington dc lights | ||||||||
UFOs
Over Washington
In the summer of 1952, Washington National Airport and Andrews Air Force Base became quite alarmed when radar picked up several flying objects over Washington D.C. Even more alarming, coordinates indicated that he objects were flying directly over the White House and the United States Capitol.
After the alarming exchange, Andrews Air Force Base immediately notified the U.S. Air Force Air Defense Command. Two F-94 night fighter planes were dispatched but due to runway repairs, it was a couple of hours before they could get off the ground. After the lengthy delay they arrived in the target area only to find vacant skies. Upon finding nothing they returned to base but the objects again began showing up on area radars. This game of cat and mouse continued throughout the night. Several times they had the objects in sight and upon approach the lights would suddenly 'blink out' and disappear. With continual radio contact between the pilots and radar control, it became apparent that when the pilots saw the objects disappear they would also simultaneously disappear from the radar.
Other aircraft also caught sight of the UFOs. The crew of a B-29 observed that the weather that night was clear with a bright, shining moon. They recalled that there were several meteors spotted both before and after the sightings but the bizarre sightings were definitely not meteors. The objects they described flew exceptionally fast and often seemed to 'disappear'. Some even reported seeing the objects traveling vertically. The entire sighting for the B-29 crew lasted 4 minutes, much longer than a typical meteor sighting. Commercial pilots also radioed in sightings. Reports began pouring in describing objects ranging from a 'cigarette glow orange' to bright white. Descriptions of the movement of the objects was consistent with the military pilots reports.
On July 26, 1952, the lights yet again showed up on radar. After confirming the sightings with other radar operators, F-94s were once again dispatched. As in the previous instance, the UFOs would vanish as soon as the pilots approached. After searching for 10 minutes the pilots turned and headed back to base. Upon returning, the blips reappeared on radar. The pilots made their turn and this time reported visual sightings of 4 lights. One of the pilots, in a high state of excitement exclaimed "they've surrounded my plane - what should I do?". Before a response was received, the lights disappeared. Three days later, on July 29, 1952, Major General John A. Samford, director of air force intelligence, held a press conference. The official explanation was "temperature inversions". He explained that a scientific committee would be formed to examine the incidents in more detail, a study that would never materialize.
The official explanation for the objects seen on radars was 'temperature inversions'. UFOlogists believe that temperature inversions could have been the cause of the blips seen on radar, although highly unlikely. They also point out that this does nothing to explain the hundreds of visual sightings, both from the air and from the ground. In fact, it is apparent that Project Bluebook also discounted this explanation as the Washington DC Lights case was officially classified as 'unknown'. Pilots also disagreed with the temperature inversions explanation and noted that they were perfectly aware of temperature inversions in the area that night (they are in fact quite common in the Washington DC area). They indicated that they never believed the lights they saw were temperature inversions and wonder why the explanation was so easily accepted by the public since it was common knowledge that the known temperature inversions were at 1000 feet and the objects they spotted were much higher, often in the 8,000 to 10,000 feet range. Radar operators at Washington National Airport (using a Type ASR-1 radar) and Washington ARTC Center (using a MEW radar) were also skeptical of the temperature inversion theory. Radar controller Barnes stated: "Inversion blips are always recognized by experts, we are familiar with what weather conditions, flying birds, and [other] such things can cause on radar." The operators noted that temperature inversions on radar are typically weak returns and move at a slow ground speed. These blips were distinctly clear (reported as "a very good return" and "solid") and often traveled and unbelievable speeds. Since temperature inversions are slow moving, some have theorized that the operators may have momentarily looked away from the screen and upon glancing back, mistakenly picked up another, different blip or possibly another aircraft echo. This would explain the 'rapid speed' described by the radar operators. Of course, the radar operators find this explanation troubling due to the fact that it questions their ability to perform their jobs effectively. They are quick to point out that not only were the objects accurately reported, but the fact that their equipment only covers a portion of the sky, there could have been hundreds more of these objects beyond their radar range.
This case is unique in that the objects were viewed and photographed by hundreds of people, including many Air Force personnel who would be considered extremely reliable witnesses. After the incident, Sergeant Harrison described what he saw:
Sergeant H. Spiewakowski further explained what he witnessed:
Other airline pilots reported seeing several 'lights' in the sky. Many people in Washington reported seeing lights too. The Pentagon intelligence officers flatly stated that the objects were nothing more than a weather phenomena, while the sightings continued throughout the month of July...
Sources (1) Project Blue Book Case 1661
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Around midnight on July 19, 1952, radar operators
at Washington National Airport noted several 'blips' on the radar
over Washington D.C. (15 miles from the Washington National airport). These objects appeared to be traveling at 100 to 130 m.p.h. and
would then suddenly accelerate to unbelievable speeds - sometimes in excess of 7,200
m.p.h. Washington National radar operators immediately contacted a
local radio operator who confirmed that he too was tracking the
objects. With two confirmations in hand they decided to further
clarify the situation with Andrews Air Force Base.
