UNCLASSIFIED // PUBLIC RELEASERELEASE 06 · SEPTEMBER 18, 2026
PENTAGON UFO FILE · DOCUMENT · DOW-UAP-D104Final Personnel Record for Newhouse, Delbert C., U.S. Navy, 1957
This file is not a sighting report. It is the final Navy personnel record of Delbert C. Newhouse, the man who shot the 16mm film near Tremonton, Utah, in July 1952 that became one of Project Blue Book’s best-known cases. Its relevance is that Blue Book investigators described Newhouse as an expert photographer on the strength of his naval experience, and this record documents that experience.
What the record shows
The file follows his career through routine assignments and training, and through the Navy rating of Photographer’s Mate, the enlisted specialty that handled photography and imaging work. It ends with the grade he held on leaving, Chief Warrant Officer 4 — then the top warrant officer grade. Its value is as background on the witness rather than on the film itself.
How it fits the Tremonton files
Read alongside the Air Force case file, DOW-UAP-D102, it helps explain why Newhouse’s account was taken seriously even as the Air Force came to favor seabirds as the explanation for the film. For the full story of the sighting and the analysis, see The Tremonton Film.
The official description
From war.gov/UFO, released September 18, 2026, quoted in full
This file contains the final personnel record of U.S. Navy Chief Warrant Officer Delbert C. Newhouse, who left naval service as a Chief Warrant Officer 4, then the highest Warrant Officer grade. In July 1952, Newhouse recorded 16mm motion-picture film near Tremonton, Utah; the film later became the subject of a Project Blue Book investigation. Project Blue Book was the U.S. Air Force program active from 1952 to 1969 that investigated the nature and origin of unidentified flying objects (UFOs). In addition to documenting routine assignments and training, the file records Newhouse’s career progression as a Photographer’s Mate, a Navy enlisted specialty responsible for photography and related imaging work. Project Blue Book investigators characterized Newhouse as an expert photographer based on his naval experience.