Washington D.C. Flap
1952 radar and visual sightings over the US capital
| Washington D.C. Flap | |
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[ IMAGE PLACEHOLDER ]
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| Date | July 1952 |
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| Location | Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Type | Sighting wave |
| Status | Attributed to temperature inversionDisputed |
On two separate weekends, radar operators at National Airport and nearby Andrews Air Force Base tracked multiple unidentified targets over restricted airspace above the U.S. Capitol, prompting fighter jet scrambles and a nationally covered Pentagon press conference, the largest of its kind in the early Cold War era.
Assessment
The Air Force’s official explanation attributed the radar returns to a temperature inversion, an atmospheric condition that can cause radar to detect false, ground-based clutter returns; several radar operators present at the time, along with later researchers, have disputed that this explanation adequately accounts for the visual sightings by pilots and ground observers that coincided with the radar contacts.
[1]See also
References
- ^ Project Blue Book case file on the July 1952 Washington flap (declassified).