Incident Report — Tierra Amarilla, New Mexico, 25 May 1952

This document is a collection of reports and correspondence regarding an unidentified radar sighting on 25 May 1952 at the 767th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron in Tierra Amarilla, New Mexico. Airmen Tracy L. Atherton and Roy P. Lein reported detecting an unconventional target on their radar scopes at 0958 MST. The target was tracked for approximately 40 seconds, moving at a speed of 1800 mph on a heading of 325 degrees. The target appeared on the scope three times across two different radar sets. The airmen were considered reliable, and their commanding officer, Captain Warren H. Kinser, provided a statement attesting to their trustworthiness. The incident was formally reported to the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) in compliance with Air Force Letter 200-5. The subsequent intelligence assessment by ATIC acknowledged that the operators definitely saw targets on their scopes but concluded that the explanation was difficult. The assessment proposed two primary possibilities: that the targets were caused by interference from another pulse-type electronic equipment operating on the same frequency, or that they were caused by 'spoofing' signals from countermeasure-type electronic equipment. The report concludes that a definitive estimate cannot be made as to whether the target was caused by such electronic interference or by an actual unknown flying object. The file includes various enclosures, including statements from the airmen, the commanding officer, and a scope diagram illustrating the radar tracks.