1952 Washington D.C. UFO flap.
documentedincidentDisclosure Legislation & Oversight
The July 1952 radar-visual UFO sightings over Washington DC (19-20 & 26-27 Jul): multi-site radar tracks, F-94 scrambles, and the largest Pentagon press conference since WWII.
Maj. Gen. Samford attributed radar returns to temperature inversion (a competing-explanation still disputed by the Weather Bureau and on-site officers). The flap drove the secret 1953 Robertson Panel and its 'debunking' recommendation. Historical anchor for the 1952 Lincoln Lab file.