Navy Photographic Interpretation Laboratory
| Navy Photographic Interpretation Laboratory | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| Parent department | U.S. Navy |
| Location | Naval Air Station Anacostia, Washington, D.C. |
| UAP work | 1952–1953 analysis of the Great Falls and Tremonton films |
| Conclusion | Objects unexplained and apparently self-luminous |
| Status | Defunct (functions absorbed into later Navy/intelligence imagery units) |
| DefunctHistorical | |
The Navy Photographic Interpretation Laboratory, at Naval Air Station Anacostia in Washington, D.C., was the U.S. Navy’s specialist unit for analyzing aerial and reconnaissance imagery. In 1952 the Air Force asked it to examine two of the most important UFO films of the era: the 1950 Great Falls (Mariana) film and the 1952 Tremonton film shot by Navy photographer Delbert C. Newhouse.[1]
The Tremonton analysis
Lab analysts reportedly spent about 1,000 man-hours on the Tremonton film, measuring the brightness and motion of the objects frame by frame. They concluded the objects were not aircraft, birds or balloons and appeared to be self-luminous, making the film unexplained.[1]
Criticism
In January 1953 the CIA-sponsored Robertson Panel reviewed the work and rejected it. The panel said the analysts used copies rather than the original film, used equipment not suited to measuring brightness, and did not remove hand-held camera shake before calculating speeds. It concluded the Tremonton objects were most likely birds. The disagreement between the two expert groups is still cited by both sides of the debate.[1]
See also
- Tremonton Film (1952) – PURSUE Files
- Mariana Footage (Great Falls Film)
- Robertson Panel
- Project Blue Book
References
- ^ Report of the Scientific Advisory Panel on Unidentified Flying Objects (Robertson Panel), January 1953, including its review of the Navy laboratory’s findings.