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(NewsNation) — UAP disclosure advocates are eager to obtain a piece of evidence that could shed light on “The Invasion of Washington,” a series of UFO sightings over the nation’s capital 74 years ago.
On Thursday, Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., announced at a forum on UAP transparency that a tape exists of a UFO briefing between Air Force officials and scientists in 1952. He said MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory, a federally funded research and development center, has agreed to make the material available.
Disclosure Foundation Executive Director Jordan Flowers told NewsNation the document is believed to be a reel-to-reel audio tape recording about the Washington, D.C., incidents. He credits Burlison, a member of the so-called UAP Caucus in Congress, with shaking the artifact loose.
“He’s stopped asking politely. He knows where certain files are. He’s demanding answers,” Flowers told “NewsNation Prime” on Saturday. “They found these files in that way at MIT Lincoln Labs. Their lawyers confirm that it exists.”
‘Invasion of Washington’ UFO sightings shook US in 1952
The July 1952 UFO sightings over the U.S. capital were observed on radar as well as by eyewitnesses, including airline pilots who reported unusual lights in the sky. Military jets were scrambled in response — to no avail.
Officers of the operations, technical and intelligence divisions of the USAF are shown at a news conference where they announced they were setting up a battery of more than 200 cameras in attempts to obtain data on the “unidentified objects” reported from various parts of the nation. The Air Force, however, believed that the “things” were natural phenomena. From left: Capt. R.L. James; Maj.Gen.Roger Ramey; Capt. Edward Ruppelt; Maj. Gen. John A. Samford; Col.Donald L.Bowan, and B.L. Griffing. (Getty Images) The story became sensationalized as news accounts described the mysterious objects as flying saucers. Cold War paranoia sparked theories that the Soviets were somehow behind the unexplained incursions into U.S. airspace.
The Air Force famously held a news conference at month’s end to tamp down all of the speculation, with authorities attributing the UFOs to the weather.
News that there is a tape recording about the Washington sightings is important, Flowers said, because it “proves that there’s significant material that have not been disclosed to the public about our government taking these things seriously for at least 70, if not 80 years.”
The pending acquisition marks another example, too, of how the culture of secrecy over UAP is changing, he said.
Air Force attributed UFO sightings to weather
“The gloves are coming off, in terms of pushing for transparency, and knowing where these things are and pulling them out of the right structures,” Flowers said.
His organization sponsored the June 25 Disclosure Forum 2026, which was billed as the first-of-its-kind gathering of lawmakers, UAP researchers and whistleblowers who have pushed for greater transparency.
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