65_HS1-834228961_62-HQ-83894_Section_006
- Date
- 1950 to 1952
- Place
- Oak Ridge, TN; Thessalon Lake, Ontario; various
- Record
- Pentagon file
- Assessment
- Not assessed
- Evidence strength
What was reported
Covers roughly 1950-1952, the period of continued but declining FBI attention as sighting reports increasingly cluster around known astronomical objects. Several entries in this section explicitly note that witnesses compared an object's size to Venus and that the Bureau itself observes 'the star Venus is often mistaken' for a saucer. Oak Ridge-area detections continue, including a 1950-52 log of unidentified radar/visual contacts near the K-25 plant area, one of which records an F-82 interceptor scrambled to the southeast corner of the Oak Ridge controlled area finding no electronic or visual contact. A July 1952 letter describes a Canadian fisherman's account of twin-engine bomber-type aircraft over Thessalon Lake, Ontario dropping objects that trailed bluish smoke before speeding off, which the Bureau logged but did not investigate further.
What officials concluded
Resolved
Several reported objects were assessed as the planet Venus, misjudged in apparent size by witnesses unfamiliar with astronomical objects; an interceptor scrambled to Oak Ridge's controlled area made no electronic or visual contact.
- Agency
- FBI
- Released in
- 123456
Evidence profile
- Yes: Visual
- No: Infrared
- Yes: Radar
- No: Video
- No: Photo
- No: Film
- No: Audio
- No: Night vision
- No: Other sensor
- Yes: Civilian
- Yes: Military aircrew
- No: Military ground
- No: Airline crew
- No: Sensor operator
- No: Law enforcement
- No: Scientist
- No: Astronaut
- No: Intelligence official
- No: Other
- No: Light only
- No: Orb or sphere
- No: Disc
- No: Triangle
- No: Cylinder
- No: Cube
- No: Other shape
- No: Physiological
- No: Physical trace
- No: Electromagnetic
- No: Sound
- No: Silent
Why this rating The section's own recurring pattern -- witnesses over- or under-estimating an astronomical object's size -- is identified as a conventional explanation by the Bureau itself; the one detailed formation sighting (Thessalon Lake) reads as an unidentified military exercise or formation flight rather than an anomaly, and the interceptor scramble returned a null result.
As described in the file
- Witnesses
- Varies by incident: multiple unnamed civilian witnesses comparing objects to Venus; a fisherman (Dr. McIndoo) and companion at Thessalon Lake; military radar/interceptor crews at Oak Ridge
- Sensors
- Radar, visual
- Size
- Estimated at two to ten times the apparent diameter of Venus in several reports
Pentagon files
65_HS1-834228961_62-HQ-83894_Section_006
Open the original on war.gov
What the file claims
- Unverified
Multiple witnesses near Oak Ridge described an object roughly two to ten times the apparent size of Venus, which the FBI's own analysis attributed to unfamiliarity with the planet's true brightness and size.
- Unverified
An F-82 interceptor was scrambled to the southeast corner of the Oak Ridge controlled area but made no electronic or visual contact with the reported object.
- Unverified
A fisherman on Thessalon Lake, Ontario reported a formation of eleven twin-trailed bomber-type aircraft that dropped objects trailing bluish smoke, which then sped off to the southwest.