1952 — Washington, D.C., USA — The Washington Flap
Artist depiction of UFOs over Washington, D.C., July 1952
On the nights of July 19 and 26, 1952, multiple unidentified flying objects were detected on radar and visually observed over Washington, D.C. Air traffic controllers at National Airport and Andrews Air Force Base tracked the objects, which moved in ways inconsistent with known aircraft.
Fighter jets were scrambled, but the UFOs vanished before interceptors arrived, only to reappear once the jets left the area. The phenomena returned a week later, prompting another radar and visual confirmation. These events caused a national media storm and public anxiety.
In response, the U.S. Air Force held a rare press conference on July 29, 1952 — the largest since World War II — attributing the sightings to “temperature inversions” causing radar anomalies. Skeptics, however, pointed to the repeated nature and visual confirmations as evidence of something more substantial.
The Washington Flap significantly influenced the creation of Project Blue Book, the Air Force’s official UFO investigation, and remains a landmark case in UFO history due to its scale, location, and military involvement.