Sunday, 6 October 2019

U.S. Government UFO Document:
“Subj: Interpretation of Movies of
Unidentified Objects; progress report on”


4 May 1953
(U.S. Naval Photographic Interpretation Center,
U.S. Naval Receiving Station, Washington, D.C.)

Source: NICAP.org

The document pertains to the 2 July 1952 Tremonton, Utah,
and 15 August 1950 Great FallsMontana, UFO films (filmed by
Warrant Officer and Chief Photographer Delbert C. Newhouse,
U.S. Navy, and Nicholas Mariana, a civilian, respectively).

Quote from the document (not written in U.S. Department of Defense document format) (Page 15):
    “1. … It is the majority opinion of the group conducting this analysis that these images are light sources. This will explain the non-blinking and variations in luminosity – but not the velocity or acceleration factors. In either case, light source or reflective surface, it appears as if the objects are of a nature which we are not able to identify in terms of natural phenomena or commonly known man-made objects.

     2. There is no indication of what kind of objects could have caused the images except that they must be of a construction, design, and material not commonly known. This is indicated by the computed acceleration rate and elocity [velocity] (answer 5). For the same reasons, birds, aircraft and balloons are ruled out.

     3. An analysis of the charts relative to movement indicate that there were group and individual movement. Within a group it appears as if the individual objects were moving counter-clock-wise along an elliptical or similar track. Thus when two objects crossed the camera line of sight they will appear to fuse into one. As they continued along their paths it will appear as if one object became two. This occurred at regular intervals at approximately every 25th frame as plotted in charts 5a and 5b.

     4. All objects appear to have the same characteristics in regards to shape, color, size and relative motion.

     5. The shape of the objects appears to be oblate or disk shaped, color; blue-white, and maximum and minimum size; 98 and 16 feet. The size is based on the assumption that the objects are five miles from the observer.

     6. Fade in and fade out of the objects were analyzed as in 3 above. In this case the group movement was such that the distance between the objects and camera was increased so that the objects could not be recorded on the film thereby causing the apparent fade-out. Fade-in as attributed to a shortening of the distance from the fade-out area to the camera station.

     7. Plots of the groups indicate that the objects move counter-clock-wise relative to the axis of flight path. However, nothing has been detected which indicates motion of the individual objects about their own axis although this motion appears to be likely.

     8. In determining the velocity of the objects three assumptions were made:

           a. The camera was held steady during Part III of the film.

           b. The objects were moving perpendicular to the optical axis, and

           c. The objects were five miles from the camera.

It is obvious that (b) is a fallacy; however, this assumption will give the minimum velocity and the actual velocity is greater than computed. The assumption that the objects are five miles from the camera is an arbitrary one. However, based on the emulsion speed and focal length, and object 50 feet in diameter and five miles from camera will be recorded on the film with sufficient resolution to identify major details of the object. It is felt that if these objects were closer than five miles at the time of recording, details would appear on the film.

Velocity is computed to be 3780 mph for a shift of 1 mm per frame if the object is five miles from the observer. From 55 measurements taken from Part III of the Utah film, the maximum and minimum velocities were 2457 and 378 mph respectively. These figures differ from those given in reference (c) and were computed from measurements obtained under more controlled conditions. Acceleration was determined from the formula: 

Since ‘g’ is equal to 32.17 ft/sec2 it was computed that:

Maximum acceleration = 21,168 mph/sec = 965 g
Minimum acceleration = 1,104 mph/sec = 50 g
Maximum deceleration = 32,448 mph/sec = 1479 g
Minimum deceleration = 272 mph/sec = 12 g

Velocity and acceleration determinations were also made from the Montana film. In this case, terrestrial objects appeared in the film and were held to as control. Subsequently, the velocity and acceleration determinations are considered to be more reliable. On the assumption of (b) and (c) above the maximum and minimum velocities of the left object are 1374 and 361 mph respectfully. For the right object they are 1117 and 189 mph. Accelerations were computed as:
                                                                      Left Object             Right Object
Maximum acceleration mph/sec   14,016 = 639 g     12640 = 576g
Minimum acceleration mph/sec                0 =     0 g                0 =      0g
Maximum deceleration mph/sec   13,184 = 601 g      14288 = 651g
Minimum deceleration mph/sec               0 =      0 g                0 =      0g

The above determinations were made from a total of 322 measurements. It was noted that the acceleration and determinations were in multiples of 12.5 approximately. This may be of significance although no study has been conducted to determine this.

     9. Velocity and acceleration were treated in sub-paragraph 8 above. Paragraph 2a indicates the controls used during this investigation.

     10. a. There is no recurring pattern in the relative position of the objects in formation. It appears however, as if the shift in relative positions were regular and that the original formation would be recovered if the continuing action has been recorded.

          b. No. However, the same formation is maintained with objects changing positions.

          c. No detection of relative positions being maintained coincidental with movement about their axis.

          d. No detection of undulating motion of objects in phase either in formation or tumbling motion.

          e. There is evidence of abrupt changes in direction of flight path through fairly large angles.

          f. Certain objects do appear to remain motionless while other move about.

          g. Certain objects disappear while still well within the field of view. This is discussed in sub-paragraph 6 above.

4. Discussion.

During the study and investigation of the unidentified objects, the preliminary data uncovered were revealed to experts (with proper security clearance) in the fields of astronomy and physics. Although they presented certain natural phenomena theories to explain the cause of the objects under certain conditions they were not able to do so under the conditions during which the photography was taken, nor were they able to recognize these objects as man-made.

As to the results of the investigations being reported, no attempt was made to corroborate the opinions presented. Because of the lack of proper equipment, money and personnel, the investigation was limited. There are obvious tests which can be conducted to prove or disprove some of the findings presented. It is suggested that these be undertaken.

5. Reference (d) requests spectrophotometric analysis of the Utah film be made. Preliminary plan of test id underway.

L. W. KEITH [Officer in Charge]”

The document was sent to Director of Naval Intelligence.

NOTE: The document starts on Page 12. Numbers 1 to 10 in 
this text are sub-paragraphs. Numbers 4 (Discussion.) and 
5 (Reference …) are paragraphs.


Wikipedia article: “Office of Naval Intelligence”:


Quote from the Wikipedia article:
“The Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) is the military intelligence agency of the United States Navy. Established in 1882 primarily to advance the Navy’s modernization efforts,[4][5] ONI is the oldest member of the United States Intelligence Community and serves as the nation’s premier source of maritime intelligence. Since the First World War, its mission has broadened to include real-time reporting on the developments and activities of foreign navies; protecting maritime resources and interests; monitoring and countering transnational maritime threats; providing technical, operational, and tactical support to the U.S. Navy and its partners; and surveying the global maritime environment. ONI employs over 3,000 military and civilian personnel worldwide and is headquartered at the National Maritime Intelligence Center in Suitland, Maryland.”












(wikimedia.org image)












Freeze-frame of the 2 July 1952 Tremonton, Utah, UFOs
(filmed by Delbert C. Newhouse, Warrant Officer and
Chief Photographer, U.S. Navy) (gststic.com image)














Satellite photo of Tremonton, Utah (tageo.com)
(tageo.com photo)







Film freeze-frame of the 15 August 1950 Great FallsMontana, UFOs (filmed by Nicholas Mariana) (ufocasebook.com image)












Satellite photo of Great Falls, Montana (tageo.com)
(tageo.com photo)