Analysis of Photos - Salem, Massachusetts Sighting, 16 July 1952

This document details the investigation into a series of photographs taken on 16 July 1952 at the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station in Salem, Massachusetts. A Coast Guard photographer, Shell R. Alpert, reported observing four bright, circular objects in a V-formation at low altitude near the station. Alpert captured the scene on film using a 4/5 Busch Pressman camera. The initial report was treated with significant interest, and the original negative was requested by the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) for analysis. The investigation involved multiple agencies, including the U.S. Air Force and the Coast Guard. Initial assessments by the Photo Reconnaissance Laboratory suggested the images were a hoax, possibly created through double exposure. However, further analysis conducted in August 1952, and later reviewed in 1963, concluded that the objects were likely reflections of interior ceiling lights on the window through which the photograph was taken. The investigators noted that the objects appeared fuzzy and out of focus, while the exterior environment was sharp, and that there was a total absence of corresponding highlights or reflections of the objects on the automobiles parked outside. Experimental tests using a standard studio photoflood lamp and a camera set to infinity confirmed that such reflections could be produced under similar conditions. The final conclusion reached by the Photo Reconnaissance Laboratory was that the authenticity of the picture was open to serious doubt and that the phenomenon was an internal reflection rather than an external aerial object.