Declassified UAP case filesDOW-UAP-PR159DECLASSIFIED · R06

DOW-UAP-PR159, Historical Film of Reported UFOs, Utah, 1952

Incident date
7/2/52
Incident location
File type
Video
DOW-UAP-PR159, Historical Film of Reported UFOs, Utah, 1952
00:00:00.00F0
00:00 / 00:00
Speed
Presets

Key facts

Official file ID
DOW-UAP-PR159
Document type
Video
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.

archival film16mmcolorblue castfilm grainscratchesbright pointscluster of pointshandheldunrelated footage

Generated with AI from the official file — may contain errors.

Source: U.S. Department of War / AARO — public domain · war.gov/ufo

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