FOIA: 22JUL52 Los Alamos NM 8-10 Unidentified Objects Sighted !

NM_JULY_22_1952.pdf
Los Alamos Multiple Sighting 22JUL52
8-10 round/saucer shaped bright aluminum colored objects were sighted by 4 witnesses at the Los Alamos airfield on 22JUL52.
Document date: 1952-07-22
Department: IG OSI Kirtland AFB NM
Author: SA Richard S. Secord
Document type: Investigative Report
pages: 8


Archivist's Notes: There are a few pages illegible but the details can be gathered from what is left in the file. Discounted as baloons because of the speed and rapid direction change, this sighting is considered unidentified. One witness describes the objects as oscillating, reflecting the sun several times a second as viewed through a pair of binoculars. This witness' assessment was deemed very reliable due to the fact that he was a pilot. Included in the file is teletype secure intel message in a standard reporting format numerics from one to ten which might help in identifying who would have been privy to this type of report.

Poor quality as document but still valuable considering the specifics of the sighting. According to the witness, Mr Don R. Wiens which as the OP stated is a trained observer stationed at Los Alamos Airport as tower operator, on July 22 1952 at approximately 10.50 to 11.15 o'clock he noticed 8 objects round or elliptical in shape, aluminum or some sort of other metallic material, very bright and luminous. The distance of the objects might have been between 15 to 50 miles from the observer's position and their size fairly bigger then any known aircraft. The objects didn't keep a steady route but seamed to darted in different directions which made it very difficult to follow their flight path. Here and there the objects remained motionless then taking off with a very high rate of speed. The whole sighting lasted 25 minutes.

By the Air Force the objects have been classified as balloons.

Personally I have no knowledge about balloons that big, flying that fast, remaining motionless and taking of immediately with a high rate of speed. part of this sightings there were also other witnesses, pilot J. Chin, F. Dew also pilot and R. W. Rowland from the fire department. The two pilots are considered trained observers and add up to the credibility of testimony of Mr. Wiens

I find the idea of listing these as balloons absurd. The witnesses were not the type to mistake balloons for UFOs. And even if one witness did make such an error, it is unlikely that so many would.

The flight characteristics described are also hard to equate with balloon flight, especially considering the reported size of the objects.

While we have access to the initial reports, which seemed to have garnered a great deal of interest, it would be interesting to find any follow-up reports with the witnesses. I find it uncharacteristic of the military, which tends to wring every last detail from any event, to have stopped short of a complete follow-up on such a report.