UNCLASSIFIED // PUBLIC RELEASERELEASE 05 · AUGUST 7, 2026
PENTAGON UFO FILE · DOCUMENT · DOW-UAP-D098Film Analysis of Unidentified Objects, 1953
This memorandum records how the US Naval Photographic Interpretation Center analyzed two of the most discussed early UFO films: one shot in Montana in 1950 and one in Utah in 1952. The Montana film is generally identified as the Great Falls footage, and the Utah film as Delbert Newhouse’s Tremonton film, which has its own Air Force file in the release (DOW-UAP-D102).
What the analysts did and concluded
According to AARO’s description, the memo lays out the Center’s method, the assumptions that limited its confidence and its tentative conclusions. Charts compare how bright the objects appeared with how large they looked, using the photogrammetric and mathematical techniques of the day. On that basis the analysts judged, in general terms, that the objects did not behave like natural phenomena or familiar aircraft. They did not present this as settled: the memo calls for a larger, better-resourced investigation to check the findings and cites a shortage of money and staff.
How it was received
The same films were shown to the CIA’s scientific panel in January 1953, which did not accept the Navy analysts’ reading and preferred ordinary explanations; the panel’s conclusions are in DOW-UAP-D085. Later Air Force reviews of the Utah film leaned toward birds. The digitized Utah footage is DOW-UAP-PR159. The account of the memo’s method and findings above follows AARO’s description.
The official description
From war.gov/UFO, released August 7, 2026, quoted in full
This file contains a memorandum relating to the U.S. Naval Photographic Interpretation Center’s assessment of two films allegedly depicting unidentified airborne objects, captured in Montana and Utah in 1950 and 1952, respectively. The file documents the Center’s analytic process, assumptions that constrained its confidence level, tentative conclusions, and recommendations for future research. The Center assessed, generally, that the objects depicted in the film demonstrated characteristics that were inconsistent with those of natural phenomena or commonly known aerospace technologies. The memorandum documents the Center’s recommendation for a more well-resourced investigation to corroborate its presumptive findings, citing a lack of funding and personnel. The accompanying charts compare the film’s luminosity with the apparent angular size of the phenomena, using contemporary mathematical modeling and photogrammetric analysis techniques.