Tremonton film, Utah
A man driving with his family filmed a loose formation of bright points 'milling around the sky' over northern Utah.
1952 CE · 41.84, -112.17 · status: explained
The account
The 2 July 1952 film, shot with a 16 mm camera and telephoto lens seven miles north of Tremonton, became one of the key exhibits of the early UFO years and was later re-examined by the Condon Committee. The Robertson Panel studied the film, about 1,600 Kodachrome frames, together with a briefing by the Navy Photo Interpretation Laboratory, which had analysed it at Air Force request. The film is listed in the panel's evidence (Tab B) as 'Motion Picture Films of sightings at Tremonton, Utah, 2 July 1952'.
The sceptical view
The Condon Report found the film and sighting not satisfactorily explained by aircraft, chaff or balloons, but consistent with birds, which were observed near Tremonton.
The researched reading
A genuine film of bright points milling in the sky. Sunlit birds remain the best fit, though the early Navy analysis keeps a small doubt alive.
| Explanation | Weight | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Something known, misidentified | 75% | The film shows small, bright, milling points at an unknown distance; the Condon Report found them consistent with birds such as gulls catching sunlight, which were observed near Tremonton, while the Navy’s high speed estimate assumed a great distance. |
| Genuinely anomalous | 13% | Navy photo analysts originally judged them self-luminous and not birds, and Newhouse said the objects he saw first were disc-shaped before he began filming. |
| A poorly understood natural phenomenon | 3% | An unusual optical effect is a remote option. |
| Secret human technology | 3% | Nothing points to secret aircraft or balloons in formation. |
| A known natural phenomenon | 2% | Thistledown or insects near the camera are minor alternatives. |
| A hoax or fabrication | 2% | Navy Warrant Officer Newhouse had no motive, and the film is genuine. |
| Perception, memory or mind | 2% | The film is the core evidence. |
Official position: The Robertson Panel and later the Condon Report concluded birds were the most likely explanation, after the Navy photo lab had judged them unidentified.
Connections in the atlas
- Mariana film, Great Falls
- The Robertson Panel report
- The Robertson Panel
- Washington D.C. flap
- Condon Report
Sources
- Condon Report, Case 49
- Report of Meetings of Scientific Advisory Panel on UFOs, 14-18 Jan 1953 (CIA OSI, 16 Feb 1953, CIA-RDP81R00560R000100030027-0)
- Report of the Scientific Panel on UFOs, 17 Jan 1953, with IAC letter to the Secretary of Defense, 13 Mar 1953 (CIA, DOC_0005517565)
- Condon Report, Case 49: Tremonton movie film
- Robertson Panel (Wikipedia)