Lathrop Wells, August 26, 1952: the sphere that turned on a dime.
THINK ABOUTIT UFO|UAP SIGHTINGS REPORT
Lathrop Wells, Nevada:
An Air Force Captain, a Bright Sphere and a Sudden Turn, August 26, 1952
At 12:10 on the morning of August 26, 1952, USAF Capt. D. A. Woods saw a large, spherical, very bright object with a V-shaped contrail and a dark cone in its center approach near Lathrop Wells, Nevada. It came in at about 1,000 mph, hovered briefly, made an instant turn of 90 to 180 degrees, climbed gently, and then accelerated suddenly, leaving a blue-white contrail that evaporated immediately.
The Lathrop Wells, Nevada UFO sighting is an Air Force officer’s night report from the desert near the Nevada Test Site. Project Blue Book carried it as an Unknown, BBU 1986.
Date: August 26, 1952
Sighting Time: 12:10 a.m.
Day/Night: Night
Location: Lathrop Wells, Nevada, United States
Urban or Rural: Rural
No. of Entity(‘s): Not Applicable
Entity Type: Not Applicable
Entity Description: Not Applicable
Hynek Classification: Nocturnal Light (NL)
Duration: Not recorded
No. of Object(s): 1
Description of the Object(s): A large, very bright spherical object with a V-shaped contrail and a dark cone in the center; it approached, hovered briefly, made an instant 90 to 180 degree turn, climbed gently, and then accelerated suddenly, leaving a blue-white contrail that evaporated immediately
Shape/Size/Color of Object(s): Spherical; large; very bright; blue-white contrail
Distance to Object(s): Not recorded
Height & Speed: About 1,000 mph on approach; a brief hover; an instant 90 to 180 degree turn; a gentle climb; a sudden acceleration
Number of Witnesses: 1 (USAF Capt. D. A. Woods)
Special Features/Characteristics: A V-shaped contrail with a dark central cone; an instant turn of 90 to 180 degrees; a contrail that vanished immediately; no sound reported
Case Status: Project Blue Book: Unknown (BBU #1986)
Source: Don Berliner, Project Bluebook UFO Unknowns; Hynek-CUFOS re-evaluation; Jan Aldrich (BBU 1986)
Summary/Description: USAF Capt. D. A. Woods saw a large, bright sphere with a V-shaped contrail and a dark cone in the center approach at about 1,000 mph, hover briefly, make an instant 90 to 180 degree turn, climb gently and then accelerate suddenly, leaving a blue-white contrail that evaporated at once. No sound was reported.
Related Cases: Fairfield, California, August 18, 1952; Colorado Springs, Colorado, August 29, 1952
Detailed Report
The record is an Air Force officer’s description in the Blue Book Unknowns lists. At 12:10 a.m. on August 26, 1952, Capt. D. A. Woods saw a large, spherical, very bright object near Lathrop Wells, Nevada. The object had a V-shaped contrail trailing from it and a dark cone in the center.
It approached at about 1,000 mph, hovered briefly, and then made an instant turn of 90 to 180 degrees. After a gentle climb it accelerated suddenly, leaving a blue-white contrail that evaporated immediately. No sound was reported.
The sources reviewed do not say whether Woods was in an aircraft or on the ground, how far away the object was, or what the weather was. Lathrop Wells lies on U.S. 95 north of Las Vegas near the Nevada Test Site.
RESEARCHER’S NOTES
A Pilot’s Description With Few Anchors
- Trained observer: An Air Force captain is trained to estimate speed and track angles. The 1,000 mph and the instant turn are his estimates, and the sources do not say how he judged distance.
- Contrail that evaporates at once: A contrail that disappears immediately is not a normal condensation trail from a jet at altitude, which persists. A blue-white trail could be an exhaust or an atmospheric effect, and the record cannot say.
- Observer position unknown: Without the observer’s location and altitude, the turn and speed cannot be checked.
- The test site: Lathrop Wells is near the Nevada Test Site, where experimental flights and ground tests occurred in 1952. The sources reviewed do not connect the sighting to any activity there.
- Single witness: One witness is the limit of the evidence.
Lathrop Wells is an officer’s account of a bright object that behaved unlike aircraft, from a place where unusual aerial activity was possible. Blue Book listed it as an Unknown, and the file in hand has too few anchors to say more.
A large, spherical, very bright object made “an instant 90 to 180 degree turn” and left a blue-white contrail that evaporated immediately.
— Summary of Capt. D. A. Woods’s report, Lathrop Wells, Nevada, August 26, 1952 (Berliner; paraphrased)
