1952: The Year of the Flap

A brief and random look at UFOs in 1952. . .

1952 was a year for UFOs in not only the United States but the rest of the planet. A well known UFO case is the UFO event over the White House, where several UFOs were witnessed flying over the domed institution. This is a classic case; much has been written about it. For example, Dr. Bruce Maccabee wrote 1952 - Year of the UFO. This was also the year Jim and Coral Lorenzen started the UFO research organization Apro, and Contactee George Van Tassel began his communications with the alien "Ashtar."

The photograph below was taken in July by a member of the Coast Guard:



The web site Project 1947 has a list of sightings in 1952. As they note, the April 7, 1952 issue of Life magazine published the article “Have We Visitors From Outer Space?”

That same year, LOOK magazine also had an article on UFOs.


In 2000, a Kenny Young submitted a request on the Jeff Rense website for information about a Joseph Rohrer, who apparently wrote the following article: Flying Saucer Talk Startles Chamber Membership Meeting, in the Pueblo, Colorado Chieftain, 1952. The article talks about a “three foot tall pilot of a flying saucer,” kept alive in California. The alien was rescued (or captured, I suppose, depending on your point of view) from a “crashed saucer” in Montana.

Best UFO Resources has a photo of a UFO taken in France during that year. This isn't the only photo of a UFO seen in another country that was taken in 1952; any internet search will reveal many more.

Here’s a picture of a UFO that appeared in New Jersey in ‘52.

The Coast Guard photograph looks like some of the wedge shaped UFOs seen more recently. (I saw one myself, with others, in the South Hills of Eugene, Oregon about 20 years ago.) Other 1952 UFOs look just like what we'd expect: those Adamski type, almost hokey, flying saucers. Military or true UFOs from space, either way, the fact is that in 1952, the world was witness to a host of flying saucers.