On 2 July 1952, U.S. Navy Chief Warrant Officer Delbert C. Newhouse, a Navy chief photographer, filmed a group of bright objects near Tremonton, Utah on handheld 16mm Kodachrome. The Air Force file records the film was "exposed 7 miles North of Tremonton, Utah, on the U.S. Highway 30 at 11:00 a.m. MST," using "a Bell and Howell Auto Master (hand-held) with a three inch telephoto lens." PURSUE Release 06 published the Project Blue Book file (DOW-UAP-D102) and, for the first time in this program, the film itself (DOW-UAP-PR159).
Interviewed at his Berkeley home on 10 September 1952, Newhouse answered the Air Force's questions: "NO SOUND HEARD DURING OBSERVATION. NO EXHAUST TRAILS OR CONTRAILS OBSERVED. NO AIRCRAFT, BIRDS, BALLOONS, OR OTHER IDENTIFIABLE OBJECTS SEEN IN AIR IMMEDIATELY BEFORE, DURING, OR IMMEDIATELY AFTER OBSERVATION." He also reported that a "SINGLE OBJECT WHICH DETACHED ITSELF FROM GROUP DID HEAD IN DIRECTION OPPOSITE ORIGINAL COURSE."
The assessment moved over time. A 26 February 1953 draft statement "for ATIC coordination prior to release to PIO" said the film "confirms the faith of the USAF in the veracity of the many citizens" who report sightings, and deduced the images came from "surfaces having good reflective qualities, such as seagulls or balloons" - words someone bracketed and underlined by hand. It added that with no reference points, "even clouds," size and linear speed could not be determined. The Navy's photo interpretation centre went frame by frame and ruled out birds, aircraft and balloons (see our Case D-98). A December 1952 panel including General Mills balloon specialists thought the objects resembled pillow balloons, though no release was ever found, and later Air Force assessments favoured seabirds.
Two cautions from AARO itself. The surviving print is a 16mm digitization, and from the 55-second mark it switches to unrelated footage of what appears to be a sewing-equipment demonstration; our video uses only the first 55 seconds. And AARO notes the file contradicts itself on format, with some documents calling the film 35mm. Key pages are transcribed below.
Pages From the File
Page 42. The February 1953 draft statement: the film "confirms the faith of the USAF in the veracity of the many citizens." Highlight added by UFO Data.Page 42. "Such as seagulls or balloons" - bracketed and underlined in red on the original. Highlight added by UFO Data.Page 14. Newhouse's answers: no sound, no exhaust trails, no aircraft, birds or balloons seen. Highlight added by UFO Data.
The Document
Messages marked RESTRICTED / UNCLASSIFIED; stamped 'Downgraded at 3 year intervals; declassified after 12 years. DOD DIR 5200.10'2 July 1952 - 1953
Project Blue Book File on the Tremonton Film, Utah, 1952 - Key Sections
Page 14 - message from CG 28th Air Division to Chief ATIC, 12 September 1952
RESTRICTED/9171. ATTN DIR OF INTEL. IN REPLY TO AFOIN-2A2 AND WADF MSG WDOID 29149 FOL INFO REQ BY HQ USAF HAS BEEN OBTAINED BY INTERVIEW WITH CPO DELBERT C. NEWHOUSE, 177273, AVN SUP DEP, NAVAL SUP CEN, OAKLAND, CALIF REGARDING UNIDENTIFIED FLY OBJS AND MOVIE FILM ON SIGHTING 2 JUL 52 NEAR TREMONTON, UTAH. CPO NEWHOUSE, HIS WIFE, SON AND DAUGHTER WERE ALL INTERVIEWED AT THE NEWHOUSE HOME IN BERKELEY, CALIF ON 10 SEP 52 BY DIRECTOR OF INTELLIGENCE, 28TH AIR DIV (DEF). FOL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS 1 THRU 13 IN USAF REQUEST ARE SUBMITTED:
1. NO SOUND HEARD DURING OBSERVATION. 2. NO EXHAUST TRAILS OR CONTRAILS OBSERVED. 3. NO AIRCRAFT, BIRDS, BALLOONS, OR OTHER IDENTIFIABLE OBJECTS SEEN IN AIR IMMEDIATELY BEFORE, DURING, OR IMMEDIATELY AFTER OBSERVATION. 4. SINGLE OBJECT WHICH DETACHED ITSELF FROM GROUP DID HEAD IN DIRECTION OPPOSITE ORIGINAL COURSE AND DISAPPEARED FROM VIEW WHILE STILL TRAVELING IN THIS DIRECTION. 5. CAMERA POINTED AT ESTIMATED 70 DEGREES ELEVATION AND DESCRIBED AN ARC FROM APPROX DUE EAST TO DUE WEST THEN FROM DUE WEST TO APPROX 60 DEGREES FROM NORTH IN PHOTOGRAPHING DETACHED OBJ HEADING IN DIRECTION OPPOSITE ORIGINAL COURSE. 6. SUN WAS APPROX OVERHEAD OF OBSERVER. OBJECTS WERE AT APPROX 70 DEGREES ABOVE TERRAIN ON A COURSE SEVERAL MILES FROM OBSERVER. 7. WEATHER CONDITIONS: BRIGHT SUNLIGHT, CLEAR, APPROX 80 DEGREES TEMPERATURE, SLIGHT BREEZE [direction partly overtyped] APPROX 3 TO 5 MPH. 8. NO METEOROLOGICAL ACTIVITY NOTED DURING THAT DAY. 9. OPINION REGARDING FOLLOWING ... [continues on next page]
Page 42 - TT-27, 26 February 1953, General Garland from Colonel Young
Reference Item 2 ATIC Telecon 15, 5 Feb 53 the following statement is for ATIC coordination prior to release to PIO:
1. This color film provides an instance of a sighting being substantiated by motion pictures and confirms the faith of the USAF in the veracity of the many citizens who have reported sightings of unidentified objects or phenomena in the air. 2. The film was forwarded to the USAF by Warrent Officer Delbert C. Newhouse, Aviation Supply Depot, Naval Supply Center, Oakland, California. 3. Warrent Officer Newhouse stated that the film was exposed 7 miles North of Tremonton, Utah, on the U.S. Highway 30 at 11:00 a.m. MST, 2 July 52: and that he was using a Bell and Howell Auto Master (hand-held) with a three inch telephoto lens at F/8 for the first few feet of the film and the balance at F/16 all at sixteen frames per second.
4. Examination of the film to date allows a deduction that the images were caused by surfaces having good reflective qualities, [such as seagulls or balloons - bracketed and underlined by hand on the original], or by bodies or substances possessing high intensity light sources. Images appearing on the film are nonsufficiently defined to permit identification or determination of form or substance and should have been caused by unknown objects or undetermined known objects. The absence of any reference points, even clouds, in the background has made it impossible to estimate the distance of the objects from the camera, thus precluding a determination of size and linear speed. Measurements of angular ... [continues]
Released 18 September 2026 in PURSUE Release 06 as DOW-UAP-D102 (156 pages), with the film itself as DOW-UAP-PR159. This key-sections edition transcribes page 14 (the Newhouse interview message) and page 42 (a February 1953 draft statement). Both are typed from the page images; the file's own text layer is machine OCR and unreliable. · U.S. Air Force, Project Blue Book (DOW-UAP-D102)
July 2nd, 1952. Eleven in the morning, seven miles north of Tremonton, Utah. A Navy chief photographer sees a group of bright objects in the sky, and starts filming.
This is that film. Sixteen millimetre Kodachrome, shot on a handheld Bell and Howell, released in full by the Department of War this month.
The Air Force file records exactly where and how. Seven miles north of Tremonton, on Highway 30, with a three inch telephoto lens.
Asked the Air Force's questions, Delbert Newhouse answered. No sound. No exhaust trails. No aircraft, birds or balloons seen, before, during or after.
One object, he said, broke away from the group and headed off in the opposite direction.
A 1953 Air Force draft statement guessed at reflective surfaces, such as seagulls or balloons. Someone underlined those words in red. And with no clouds or landmarks, nobody could judge size or speed.
A Navy photo lab went frame by frame and ruled out birds. Later Air Force reviews settled on seabirds anyway.
The film itself never decided it. Search Case D-102 at ufodata.org. Subscribe to UFO Data.
