The DC Deception (Last Updated 2/5/19)





The flying saucers reported over Washington, DC in July 1952 is one of the most famous events in UFO history. Objects tracked on radar, and Air Force planes were sent out to investigate, and reportedly, UFOs were seen by at least one pilot and radar operator.





It's an important historical event, worthy of examination, but...

There are rumors and myths too, such as it being widely witnessed by panicking citizens or that photos exist of the event.





Weird Science-Fantasy #26 from EC, 1954





If you need a recap, it was covered at the time in the August 4, 1952 issue of LIFE magazine

It was also covered in a NBC television broadcast, "We the People," which featured interviews with the radar operator witnesses. See The Saucers That Time Forgot: UFOs on TV: The 1952 Washington, DC Saucer Flap.

Had there been a photograph of UFOs during the incidents, Life Magazine would have been happy to publish them. None surfaced despite this being among the most heavily publicized cases in US history.

The Fake

In 1965, over a decade after the events, a photograph was published, and ever since has appeared in almost every discussion and article on the Washington, DC, case, from books, to the internet, documentaries, and television shows. The trouble is, it's a phony.





Well, the photo itself is real, but it is misrepresented and fraudulently used, then accepted and repeated as genuine by people who should know better. It was taken several years after the event, and instead of UFOs, it depicts the reflection of the Capitol's lamps- lens flares





Many versions exist, cropped in color...

black and white for a more "historical" look...





tweaked with photoshop and so on...

FOTOCAT's input follows:

Event date: July 19, 1952

Location: Washington, D.C. (USA)

Date information: Non-event (actually dated 1965)

Event is filed as: Lens flares

Time: Between 23:40 and 06:00

Photographer: Unknown

http://www.nicap.org/reports/520719washington_report.htm

This time, Flying Saucers are not real.

Exposed and Forgotten

As seen on the magazine cover above, it's often cropped to remove the lamps, the source of the "UFOs." It was exposed long ago, in a detailed analysis by Colman von Keviczky that was published in Official UFO Magazine #9, July 1976. A summary by Dr. Bruce Maccabee :

This picture which shows the Capitol dome and lights at the left side is, I believe, just a fraction of the total picture which shows the whole Capitol building, parking lot lights in front of it and numerous "UFO" lights in the sky at both the left and right sides of the dome. Colman von Kevicsky, years ago, showed the "UFO" light images were actually lens "flares"....reflections within the lens of the bright streetlights and parking lot lights in front of the Capitol.

Reconstruction of the Official UFO Magazine analysis,

showing how the "UFOs" correspond to the lamps as lens flares.

Vicente-Juan Ballester Olmos reports:The first known publication of the picture is in Ray Palmer'sNo. 81, Summer 1973Th photo was included in April 1979magazine issue in "UFOS: A Gallery of Photographs," the Lee Spiegel article, "First Contact." The tiny caption describes the picture: