Incident · 6 August 1952 – 7 August 1952 · U.S. Naval Air Facility Port Lyautey (now Kenitra), French Morocco
Port Lyautey Navy pilots' sightings of a brilliant white object
Also known as Port Lyautey 1952, Port Lyautey UFO, NAF Port Lyautey, Kenitra 1952, VR-24 sighting
Partly explained. Blue Book's record card marks the conclusion “Possibly Balloon”, while the Navy's intelligence officer reported that aircraft and a shooting star had been ruled out and reached no conclusion. (Project Blue Book case file: Port Lyautey, French Morocco, August 1952)
On the evenings of 6 and 7 August 1952, officers of the U.S. Navy's Air Transport Squadron 24 (VR-24) at the Naval Air Facility Port Lyautey, French Morocco, reported a brilliant white light. On the 6th Lt. C. B. Green saw it from the ground, crossing the sky faster than any jet he knew. On the 7th the crew of an R5D on a night training flight, Lt. D. M. Dobos and Lt. W. Foster, watched it climb away from them, turn across their path, hover and descend, showing a dazzling centre and two blinking red lights, and the airfield tower, given its position, saw it too.
The base intelligence officer sent their statements to the Office of Naval Intelligence on 15 August, rating the report A-1 and calling it the first direct observation made locally of what were called flying saucers; he wrote that another aircraft or a shooting star had been ruled out but reached no conclusion. A watch with cameramen on the 8th saw nothing. Project Blue Book, which received the report, filed it as “Possibly Balloon”, a verdict its own card does not argue for beyond noting that the maneuvers ruled out astronomical causes.
Sources: Project Blue Book case file Port Lyantey, French Morocco, August 1952 (NARA ID 28947832), with the ONI information report 1-R-52 and the pilots' statements
Facts and claims
- claimed Lt. C. B. Green of Air Transport Squadron 24 (VR-24) stated that on the night of 6 August 1952, standing in the squadron area at about 2300, he saw a brilliant round white light on a course of about 230 degrees that left a smoke-like trail, and that “it was going far faster than any of these”, comparing it with F-86s and F-94s he had seen in races. Source: doc-bluebook-port-lyautey-1952.pdf
- claimed Lt. D. M. Dobos, flying R5D 50865 on a night training flight on 7 August with Lt. Foster as co-pilot and Lt. Orr in the cockpit, stated that a brilliant white light crossed their windshield at their altitude of 4,500 feet; when he turned and climbed towards it, it climbed away at a terrific rate to an estimated 15,000 feet, then turned sharply across their path, hovered and descended, and showed “a very bright disc center--brighter than white phosphorus--with two definite blinking red lights.” Source: doc-bluebook-port-lyautey-1952.pdf
- claimed Dobos stated that the Port Lyautey tower, at first unable to see it, sighted the object once given its position and tracked it as the crew did; the other aircraft the tower reported in the vicinity was located north of the field and recognised by its red and green lights and slow movement. Source: doc-bluebook-port-lyautey-1952.pdf
- claimed Lt. W. Foster, the co-pilot, stated that at 2020 he saw a brilliant white light pass from port to starboard, that they turned to follow it and it grew dim, and that as they turned back “we were circled by this object”, showing two rapidly blinking red lights before departing on a bearing of about 230 degrees. Source: doc-bluebook-port-lyautey-1952.pdf
- documented The Navy's report records that the tower log has the aircraft off the ground at 1951 local on 7 August and a later entry in which two tower operators saw the object pass to the southwest, turn sharply and head southeast; weather for 6–8 August was generally excellent, and from the enclosures “rough computation shows that the speed of the object must have been more than 4000 miles per hour.” Source: doc-bluebook-port-lyautey-1952.pdf
- documented On the night of 8 August cameramen were posted at the tower and aircraft were told to watch for unusual objects; the results were negative. Source: doc-bluebook-port-lyautey-1952.pdf
- documented The Navy intelligence officer reported that aircraft and a shooting star had been ruled out but that “no firm conclusion has been reached as to the identification or significance of the object sighted.” Blue Book's record card nevertheless marks the conclusion “Possibly Balloon”, with the comment that the maneuvers eliminate astronomical explanations. Source: doc-bluebook-port-lyautey-1952.pdf
Connected files
Documents
Programs
- Project Blue Book (investigated by) — Blue Book's record card marks the conclusion “Possibly Balloon”
Organizations
- Office of Naval Intelligence (investigated by) — Information report 1-R-52 of 15 August 1952: “NO CONCLUSION AS TO IDENTITY OR SIGNIFICANCE.”
Mentioned in this file
- National Archives and Records Administration (Organization)