Colorado Springs, August 29, 1952: three objects in line.
THINK ABOUTIT UFO|UAP SIGHTINGS REPORT
Colorado Springs, Colorado:
A Pilot Sees Three 50-Foot Objects in Line at 1,500 mph, August 29, 1952
At 8:35 on the evening of August 29, 1952, pilot Carlton A. Magruder saw three aluminum-colored objects with red-yellow exhaust flying in line over Colorado Springs, Colorado. He estimated each at 50 feet in diameter and 10 feet high, and their speed at about 1,500 mph.
The Colorado Springs, Colorado UFO sighting is a short evening report from an experienced pilot, listed as Blue Book Unknown BBU 2013 and cataloged by Brad Sparks as Case 802. It happened on the same day as the Thule, Greenland report.
Date: August 29, 1952
Sighting Time: 8:35 p.m.
Day/Night: Evening
Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States
Urban or Rural: Urban
No. of Entity(‘s): Not Applicable
Entity Type: Not Applicable
Entity Description: Not Applicable
Hynek Classification: Nocturnal Light (NL)
Duration: 4 to 5 minutes in some summaries; not stated in the UAP Discovery summary
No. of Object(s): 3
Description of the Object(s): Three aluminum-colored objects with red-yellow exhaust flying in line
Shape/Size/Color of Object(s): Aluminum-colored; 50 feet in diameter and 10 feet high (witness estimate)
Distance to Object(s): Not recorded
Height & Speed: About 1,500 mph; altitude not recorded
Number of Witnesses: 1 (pilot C. A. Magruder; identified in one summary as Carlton A. Magruder, a Civil Air Patrol pilot)
Special Features/Characteristics: Three objects in line; red-yellow exhaust; metallic coloring; size estimates from a pilot
Case Status: Project Blue Book: Unknown (BBU #2013)
Source: Don Berliner, Project Bluebook UFO Unknowns (BBU 2013); Brad Sparks, Blue Books Unknowns Catalogue, Case 802, p. 169; Loren E. Gross, UFOs: A History, 1952: August, p. 80; NICAP
Summary/Description: Pilot C. A. Magruder saw three aluminum-colored objects with red-yellow exhaust, each about 50 feet across and 10 feet high, flying in line over Colorado Springs at roughly 1,500 mph. Blue Book: Unknown.
Related Cases: Thule, Greenland, August 29, 1952; Lathrop Wells, Nevada, August 26, 1952
Detailed Report
The Colorado Springs report appears in the Blue Book Unknowns lists and in Loren Gross’s 1952 chronology. At 8:35 p.m. on August 29, 1952, pilot Carlton A. Magruder saw three aluminum-colored objects with a red-yellow exhaust over Colorado Springs. The objects flew in line.
Magruder estimated each object at 50 feet in diameter and 10 feet high, and their speed at about 1,500 mph. Some summaries record a duration of four to five minutes; the UAP Discovery summary of the Sparks catalogue entry does not state one.
The UAP Discovery post calls Magruder a Civil Air Patrol pilot, while Berliner’s list describes him as a military pilot. The Blue Book record card, telex and worksheet are attached to that post as images, and their text is not reproduced, so the evaluation and the reporting form are not summarized here.
RESEARCHER’S NOTES
A Pilot, Three Objects and a Disputed Affiliation
- The pilot: Magruder is described as a Civil Air Patrol pilot in one source and a military pilot in another. A pilot’s training makes his estimates of formation and speed more credible, but the 50-foot and 1,500 mph figures need a distance he does not give.
- Red-yellow exhaust: A red-yellow exhaust describes flame. It is consistent with jet aircraft, which Colorado Springs (home to Ent AFB) would see. The record does not say whether any were flying.
- In line: Three objects flying in line is a formation description. It could be three aircraft, and the speed estimate is what argues against it.
- Same day as Thule: Both reports date to August 29. The sources reviewed connect them in no way except the date.
Colorado Springs is a short report with strong specifics and few anchors. The record has a pilot, a formation and a speed, and it lacks a distance, a duration and a documented investigation.
“Three aluminum-colored objects with a red-yellow exhaust over Colorado Springs, Colorado.”
— UAP Discovery summary of Brad Sparks’s Blue Books Unknowns Catalogue, Case 802
