Eight Giant Discs

On the evening of July 14, 1952, Pan American World Airways Captain William Nash and First Officer William Fortenberry were flying a DC-4 at 8,000 feet over Chesapeake Bay when they observed eight brilliant red, disc-shaped objects travelling at an estimated 12,000 mph in a precise formation. The objects performed a sharp formation turn and then accelerated upward, disappearing rapidly.

The sighting occurred during the height of the 1952 Washington D.C. UFO wave — a period of intense UAP activity that prompted press conferences and significant public concern. Nash and Fortenberry were experienced, credible pilots. Their report was thoroughly investigated by Project Blue Book and remained officially unidentified.

The Washington Wave

The Nash-Fortenberry sighting is considered one of the best-documented encounters from the remarkable summer of 1952, when UFOs appeared repeatedly over Washington D.C. airspace — at one point prompting jet interceptors to scramble — and forced the military to hold its largest post-war press conference on the subject.