Washington and Andrews, August 5-6, 1952: the scopes again.
THINK ABOUTIT UFO|UAP SIGHTINGS REPORT
Washington, D.C. and Andrews AFB:
Radar Targets Overnight and a Sighting Over Southeast Washington, August 5-6, 1952
Ten days after the second Washington National Airport radar weekend, the capital’s scopes lit up again. Overnight on August 5-6, 1952, two to ten unidentified objects moving at 30 to 40 mph were tracked on radarscopes at Civil Aeronautics Administration headquarters at Washington National Airport, and the same blips were reported on radar at Andrews AFB, where an aircraft was sent up to 15,000 feet and turned back because of overcast.
The next night, August 6, Andrews AFB radar plotted a string of unidentified targets that vanished as a returning B-25 approached, and a civilian in southeast Washington reported two bright circular objects flying toward the base. The Washington, D.C. and Andrews AFB radar reports of August 5-6, 1952 are the follow-up to the July flap, and they are not listed in the Project Blue Book Master Index.
Date: August 5-6, 1952
Sighting Time: Overnight August 5-6 (Washington National Airport); 9:15 p.m. (civilian sighting) and 10:00 p.m. onward (Andrews AFB radar), August 6
Day/Night: Night
Location: Washington, D.C., and Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, 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: Overnight radar tracking on August 5-6; the Andrews radar report of August 6 runs from 10:00 p.m. into the night
No. of Object(s): 2 to 10 radar targets (August 5-6); 1 to 3 radar targets at a time at Andrews (August 6); 2 bright objects seen by a civilian
Description of the Object(s): Radar targets moving slowly, seen on scopes at two sites; at Andrews, targets that appeared at set bearings and vanished when a B-25 approached; two bright circular objects the size of a fifty-cent piece, one flying straight and the other circling it
Shape/Size/Color of Object(s): Radar returns; the visual objects were bright and circular, about the size of a fifty-cent piece at arm’s length
Distance to Object(s): Radar ranges at Andrews of 2.5 to 5 miles at bearings of 53 to 116 degrees; the visual objects were in the sky over southeast Washington
Height & Speed: Radar targets at 30 to 40 mph on August 5-6; the civilian said the objects flew faster than any jet he had seen; an aircraft sent up to 15,000 feet found nothing because of overcast
Number of Witnesses: Radar operators at Washington National Airport and Andrews AFB; 1 civilian in southeast Washington
Special Features/Characteristics: The same blips seen on two radars; an aircraft sent up and turned back by overcast; targets that disappeared as a B-25 returned; a civilian sighting toward the base at 9:15 p.m.
Case Status: Insufficient Data — not listed in the Project Blue Book Master Index; known through a secondary summary
Source: Dan Wilson
Summary/Description: On August 5-6, 1952 two to ten objects at 30 to 40 mph were tracked on radar at Washington National Airport and Andrews AFB. On August 6 Andrews radar plotted unidentified targets that vanished as a B-25 returned, and a civilian saw two bright circular objects heading toward the base.
Related Cases: Washington, D.C. radar targets of August 13-14, 1952 (see the August 1st-17th page); the Washington National Airport weekends of July 19-20 and July 26-27, 1952
Detailed Report
Dan Wilson’s summary describes two linked reports. The first concerns the night of August 5-6, when two to ten unidentified objects moving at 30 to 40 mph were tracked on radarscopes at Civil Aeronautics Administration headquarters at Washington National Airport. The same blips appeared on radar at nearby Andrews AFB, and an aircraft was sent up to 15,000 feet to investigate. It returned because of overcast.
The second report is an Andrews AFB radar log for August 6. An unidentified object appeared on the scope 2.5 miles out at bearing 116 degrees, moving south. At 10:23 p.m. three objects appeared (4.5 miles at 80 degrees, 3 miles at 100 degrees and 4.5 miles at 113 degrees). At 10:32 p.m. one object was tracked 5 miles out at 93 degrees, and at 10:39 p.m. two targets appeared at 53 degrees. When a B-25 returned to the base, the unknown targets disappeared as it approached.
Earlier that evening, at 9:15 p.m., a civilian in southeast Washington reported two bright circular objects, each the size of a fifty-cent piece, flying toward Andrews AFB. One flew a straight course and the other circled it, faster than any jet he had seen. The Wilson summary notes the case is not in the Project Blue Book Master Index.
The two reports are closely related and may describe one continuing event. A week later, on the night of August 13-14, the scopes in Washington filled again; that night is covered on the August 1st-17th page.
RESEARCHER’S NOTES
After July: The Capital’s Radar Keeps Finding Targets
- Closely related reports: The overnight August 5-6 tracking at the airport and the August 6 Andrews log may be parts of one event. The sources do not say.
- Slow targets: Targets moving at 30 to 40 mph are typical of weather-related returns such as those from temperature inversions, which the Air Force cited for the July Washington sightings. The sources do not record the weather for these nights.
- The B-25: Targets that disappear when an aircraft approaches fit radar echoes from a distant aircraft or a weather layer as well as a phenomenon that reacts to aircraft. The record cannot separate these.
- The civilian sighting: The 9:15 p.m. observation is one person’s account. Its direction, toward Andrews, is the only link to the radar log, which begins later.
- Not in the Master Index: The absence from the Blue Book Master Index means the Air Force did not carry these as numbered cases, and the evidence here is a secondary summary only.
The August 5-6 reports show the Washington radar pattern continuing after the July peak, with the same slow blips, the same two sites and the same lack of a decisive answer.
Unidentified targets on the Andrews AFB scope disappeared as a returning B-25 approached.
— Summary of the Andrews AFB radar log of August 6, 1952 (Dan Wilson; paraphrased)
