DOW-UAP-PR159, Historical Film of Reported UFOs, Utah, 1952
Key facts
- Official file ID
- DOW-UAP-PR159
- Document type
- Video
- Agency
- Department of War
- Released in
- R06 · 2026-09-18
- Incident date
- 7/2/52
- Incident location
- Tremonton, Utah
- Coordinates
- 41.7120775, -112.165779
- Duration
- 70s
Official description
This archival footage is a digitization of a 16mm print of Kodachrome color motion-picture film shot on a handheld Bell & Howell Auto Master camera near Tremonton, Utah, on July 2, 1952. U.S. Navy Chief Warrant Officer Delbert C. Newhouse reported observing and filming a group of bright airborne objects and shortly thereafter submitted the footage to the U.S. Air Force. The film later became one of the visual cases reviewed by Project Blue Book, the 1952–1969 U.S. Air Force program that investigated the nature and origin of unidentified flying objects (UFOs). The film’s limited detail and lack of fixed reference points prevented a conclusive resolution. From the 55-second mark onward, the film transitions to unrelated footage appearing to show a demonstration of sewing equipment. The presence of unrelated sewing-equipment footage suggests that the surviving footage may be a composite or reused print, though the available record does not establish how or when the materials came to be combined. As documented in records submitted with the film, contained in this collection under the title DOW-UAP-D102, the footage originally was paired with mountain scenery from Idaho, which is not preserved in this digitization.
✦ AI visual analysis
Archival 16mm color film with a heavy blue color cast, visible film grain, vertical scratches, and a soft focus consistent with handheld footage. Most frames show a plain sky with no visible object; several frames contain a cluster of small bright points of light of varying number and spacing, with no discernible shape or structure connecting them. A few frames are nearly black, consistent with the camera briefly pointing away from the light source or exposure changes. Around the one-minute mark, the footage cuts abruptly to unrelated color footage of a hand operating a vintage sewing machine, with visible thread spools and mechanism, confirming the composite nature of the surviving print.
Generated with AI from the official file — may contain errors.
Source: U.S. Department of War / AARO — public domain · war.gov/ufo