Washington D.C. UFO Flap — National Mall

During the summers of 1952, multiple objects appeared on radar at Washington National Airport and Andrews Air Force Base and were witnessed by pilots, air traffic controllers, and civilians over the Capitol and White House. The objects moved at 7,200 mph, stopped instantly, and reversed direction — performance impossible for any known aircraft. The Air Force held its largest press conference since WWII to address the phenomenon, attributing it to temperature inversions — a conclusion rejected by the radar operators who tracked the objects. The incidents remain officially unexplained.