Duncanville, August 18, 1952: lights in the sky, a blip on the scope.
THINK ABOUTIT UFO|UAP SIGHTINGS REPORT
Duncanville, Texas:
Red and Green Lights, Then a Matching Radar Return, August 18, 1952
At 8:45 on the night of August 18, 1952, ground observers near Dallas, Texas reported a slow-moving object to Carswell Air Force Base. It showed red and green lights that changed to white, moved up and down, hovered, then moved off rapidly. Two minutes later, at 8:47 p.m., the 147th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron at Duncanville picked up objects on radar about 28 miles away, in the same direction as the visual sightings.
The Duncanville, Texas UFO sighting is a radar-visual report: an object seen by eye and then tracked by radar, changing direction several times at an estimated 300 mph during about 40 minutes of observation. It is carried in the Blue Book files and was summarized by Dan Wilson.
Date: August 18, 1952
Sighting Time: 8:45 p.m. CST (visual); 8:47 p.m. CST (radar)
Day/Night: Night
Location: Duncanville, Texas (near Dallas), United States
Urban or Rural: Urban
No. of Entity(‘s): Not Applicable
Entity Type: Not Applicable
Entity Description: Not Applicable
Hynek Classification: Radar-Visual (RV)
Duration: About 40 minutes
No. of Object(s): 1 visual object; the radar return is described as “objects”
Description of the Object(s): A slow-moving object showing red and green lights that changed to white; it moved up and down, hovered, and moved off rapidly; the radar return changed direction several times
Shape/Size/Color of Object(s): Lights only; size and shape not recorded
Distance to Object(s): About 28 miles on radar at an azimuth of about 265 degrees
Height & Speed: Slow at first, then rapid; about 300 mph on radar with several changes of direction
Number of Witnesses: Ground observers (number not recorded) and the radar crew of the 147th AC&W Squadron
Special Features/Characteristics: A visual sighting and a radar return in the same direction within two minutes; up-and-down movement and a hover; changes of direction at about 300 mph
Case Status: Insufficient Data in the sources reviewed; carried in the Blue Book files
Source: Dan Wilson, Blue Book files
Summary/Description: Ground observers reported a slow-moving object with red and green lights changing to white to Carswell AFB. At 8:47 p.m. the 147th AC&W Squadron at Duncanville tracked objects on radar 28 miles away at about 265 degrees, in the same direction, changing course several times at about 300 mph over 40 minutes.
Related Cases: Levelland, Texas, August 24, 1952; Duncanville, Texas, January 6, 1953
Detailed Report
The Duncanville account has two parts. At 8:45 p.m. CST on August 18, 1952, ground observers made a visual sighting of a slow-moving object, which they reported to Carswell AFB. The object showed red and green lights that changed to white. It moved up and down, hovered, and then moved off rapidly.
At 8:47 p.m. CST, the 147th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron at Duncanville, a radar unit near Dallas, picked up objects on radar at approximately 265 degrees azimuth and 28 miles distance, the same direction as the visual sightings. The radar object changed direction several times at an estimated 300 mph. In total the object was observed for about 40 minutes.
The sources reviewed do not name any observer, give the weather, or state a Blue Book conclusion, and they do not say whether the radar crew saw the lights themselves.
RESEARCHER’S NOTES
Eyes and Radar in the Same Direction
- Two minutes apart: The radar pick-up came two minutes after the visual report and in the same direction, which links the observations. It does not prove they are the same object, since radar operators in a metropolitan area see many returns.
- Red and green lights: Red and green lights that change to white are consistent with aircraft navigation lights seen at different angles, and with a hovering helicopter, though helicopters were not common in 1952. The up-and-down movement and hover argue against a simple aircraft pass.
- Speed: About 300 mph is within the range of a propeller aircraft or a jet at a distance. The speed came from the radar track.
- Duncanville’s radar unit: Duncanville hosted an Air Force radar station that tracked other reports in the area, including a January 6, 1953 report of an arrow-shaped object at 600 knots.
- Limits: No names, weather or tower log are in the sources reviewed.
Duncanville records a matched visual and radar report in a major metropolitan area. The evidence supports a real return on the scope and a real sighting by eye. It does not tell what either was.
The radar return appeared “in the same direction as the visual sightings.”
— Summary of the 147th AC&W Squadron radar report, Duncanville, Texas, August 18, 1952 (Dan Wilson; paraphrased)
