UFOs Over Washington
JULY 20-19, 26-27>> WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Two radars covering Washington on July 19 picked up eight UFOs in restricted air space from 11:40 PM to 5:00 AM on July 20. The UFOs were flying at speeds of 100-300 MPH and would accelerate suddenly to incredible speeds. Strange lights, acting in the same way, were reported by airline pilots over Washington. At 3:30 AM jet aircraft, having been delayed investigating UFO sighting in New Jersey, arrived to investigate. The UFOs disappeared when the jets arrived and reappeared after they had left. A blazing orange sphere was seen by radar controllers at Andrews Air Force Base hovering overhead.

Between six and twelve UFOs performed similar maneuvers over Washington starting at 9:00 PM on July 26. At 2:00 AM on the 27th jet fighters were scrambled from Wilmington, Delaware. The UFOs again disappeared from sight and radar when the jets came within radar range and reappeared ten minutes later as the planes were returning to base. The UFOs did remain visible when another flight of fighters arrived over Washington at around 3:20 AM. Lt. William Patterson, one of the pilots, reported being surrounded by a ring of enormous blue-white lights. The lights flew off before he received permission to fire on them.

The official Civil Aviation Authority Technical Development and Evaluation Center's explanation was that the radar images were reflected by air currents. No explanation was given for Lt. Patterson's sighting.