July 1952 Hanford Disc Sighting and Press Stall
In July 1952, two pilots witnessed a flat, round flying-saucer-shaped object hovering over the Atomic Energy Commission's Hanford plutonium production site in Richland, Washington. The Air Force instructed investigators to stall press inquiries.
Background
The Sighting
In July 1952 — weeks before the famous Washington DC radar-visual waves — two pilots reported a flat, round flying-saucer-shaped object hovering over the Hanford Site in Richland, Washington. Hanford was then the United States' principal production facility for weapons-grade plutonium, and one of the most sensitive nuclear complexes in the country.
The Press Stall
According to the Blue Book files cited by Coulthart, the US Air Force internally instructed investigators to stall press inquiries about the incident rather than confirm or explain it. At the height of the Cold War, any hint that a nuclear-weapons complex had been overflown by an unexplained object was considered politically radioactive.
Context
The July 1952 sighting is distinct from the later December 1952 F-94 radar-visual interceptions over the same plant, which are recorded under separate events in this timeline. Together, the Hanford cases illustrate a pattern — repeatedly identified in the US declassified record — in which nuclear facilities attract UAP activity.