1952: Air Force Bomber Encounter’s Discs

THINK ABOUTIT UFO SIGHTING REPORT

Date: May 1, 1952             BBU 1175

Sighting Time:

Day/Night: Day

Location: Davis-Monthan AFB, Tucson, Arizona

Urban or Rural: -Air Force Base

Hynek Classification: DD (Daylight Disc) Metallic or whitish object seen in the day.

Duration: 20 seconds

No. of Object(s): 2

Height & Speed: saw two shiny discs overtake the bomber, slow to its speed and position themselves alongside. After about 20 seconds, the objects peeled off at an angle of 70-80 degrees from the flight path of the B-36 and sped away.

Size of Object(s): 20-25 feet in diameter

Distance to Object(s):

Shape of Object(s): discs 

Color of Object(s): shiny 

Number of Witnesses: Multiple

Source: J. Allen Hynek, “The Hynek UFO Report”, New York, Dell Publishing Co., 1977, pp. 109-112, 292-294. | Pr. James E. McDonald files, University of Arizona library. | Project Blue Book files, National Archives, Washington DC.

Full Report

Davis-Monthan AFB, Tucson, Arizona, May 1, 1952

THE EVENT:

Early in the 1952 UFO sighting wave two discs approached and paced a B-36 bomber in the vicinity of Davis-Monthan AFB, Tucson, Arizona. On May 1, 1952, Major Rudy Pestalozzi, a base intelligence officer, along with an airman, looked up as a B-36 flew overhead and saw two shiny discs overtake the bomber, slow to its speed and position themselves alongside.

The bomber crew, startled by the experience, made an unscheduled landing at the base and were interrogated at length by Major Pestalozzi, who happened to be the base UFO officer. Members of the flight crew had crowded into the starboard blister aft of the wing and looked down at a slight angle to see the closest disc, which was lens- or double-disc-shaped and about 20-25 feet in diameter.

After about 20 seconds, the objects peeled off at an angle of 70-80 degrees from the flight path of the B-36 and sped away.

Major Pestalozzi sent a comprehensive report of the incident to Project Blue Book. Within the next two months the summer 1952 UFO sighting wave reached a crescendo, generating national headlines and stirring up major Government interest, as radar repeatedly detected UFOs, and jet interceptors engaged in cat-and-mouse pursuits.

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source: J. Allen Hynek, “The Hynek UFO Report”, New York, Dell Publishing Co., 1977, pp. 109-112, 292-294.

Pr. James E. McDonald files, University of Arizona library.

Project Blue Book files, National Archives, Washington DC.