The Washington Flap
On two summer weekends, radar screens around Washington filled with unknown objects, some flying over the White House.
What was reported
On the weekends of 19 to 20 July and 26 to 27 July 1952, radar operators at Washington National Airport and Andrews Air Force Base tracked unidentified objects moving over the capital, including over restricted airspace near the White House and Capitol. Pilots in the air reported lights where the radar showed targets.
Fighter jets were sent up to intercept. Some pilots saw lights that sped away; others saw nothing. The sightings made front-page news across the country.
Explanations offered
At a large press conference, the US Air Force said the radar targets were caused by temperature inversions, which can bend radar beams and create false returns, and the lights by stars and meteors. Some of the radar operators involved disagreed, saying they knew what inversion effects looked like.
- When
- July 1952
- Where
- Washington, D.C., USA
- Witnesses
- Air traffic controllers, pilots and the public
- Status
- Disputed
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.