In July 1952, several UFOs were spotted flying near the White House. During that entire summer, reports of UFOs were quite high, and they caused quite a stir among Americans.
What Happened: One example from the past I like to use comes from July of 1952, when multiple UFOs were filmed flying over Washington D.C. In fact, during that summer there were a number of sightings reported. These sightings were known as “the Big Flap” and are quite well known among many ufologists. During that time, military jets that were sent out to take a closer look at these objects did so to no avail.
The objects instantaneously accelerated at speeds that are still not attainable today by any known man-made craft, similar to the many examples that exist today. All of the sightings during this time were confirmed by civilians, military, radar operators and pilots. The same goes for many sightings today, with the Pentagon’s recent release being a prime example.
General Nathan Twining, author of a September 23, 1947 memo stated that the “phenomenon reported is something real and not visionary or fictitious” and that “the reported operating characteristics such as extreme rates of climb, maneuverability (particularly in roll), and action which must be considered evasive when sighted or contacted by friendly air-craft and radar, lend belief to the possibility that some of the objects are controlled either manually, automatically or remotely.”
The sightings over the White House rocked local consciousness and were being reported by every major American newspaper at the time. They caused so much of a stir that President Truman held a press conference to answer questions about the event. During that conference, he admitted that government officials “discuss” this topic “in every meeting” that the administration has with the military. He went on to say that “there’s always things like that going on, UFO’s and they’ve had other things you know.”
I counted 9, the night that I saw them they were round, the typical disk type aircraft, spacecraft. But they were there, they were illuminated, they were quite visible, their configuration was quite conspicuous. – Colonel Ross Dedrickson (source)