60 'Saucer' Reports Fly At Air Force in 2 weeks
The New York Times
July 18, 1952
By the United Press
DAYTON, Ohio, July 17 - An Air Force spokesman said today some sixty reports of flying saucers had been received during the last two weeks. He could give no reason for the sudden increase.
Capt. E. J. Ruppelt of the Air Force Technical Intelligence Center at Wright-Patterson Air Base said "people are seeing unidentified objects in the sky at a rate almost double over last year."
Captain Ruppelt, project officer for the Air Force group that investigates unidentified aerial objects, said there was no connection between the saucer sighting increase and the recent inauguration of Operation Skywatch by the Ground Observer Corps.
He said his office was requesting more information from two Pan American Airways pilots who reported seeing "eight glowing red-orange disks" flying near Norfolk, Va., last Sunday night. The pilots, W. B. Nashid and W. H. Fortenberry said the objects were travelling at 1,000 miles an hour.