# July 13, 1952 — 60Mi SW of Washington, DC — Light Ascends, Paces Aircraft, Takes Off Vertically

**URL:** https://uapdiscovery.discourse.group/t/july-13-1952-60mi-sw-of-washington-dc-light-ascends-paces-aircraft-takes-off-vertically/248
**Category:** Blue Book Unknowns
**Created:** [July 13, 2025, 12:24am UTC](https://uapdiscovery.discourse.group/t/july-13-1952-60mi-sw-of-washington-dc-light-ascends-paces-aircraft-takes-off-vertically/248 "2025-07-13T00:24:50Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![jeffknox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e47c2d/32.png) [@jeffknox](https://uapdiscovery.discourse.group/u/jeffknox)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2025, 12:24am UTC](https://uapdiscovery.discourse.group/t/july-13-1952-60mi-sw-of-washington-dc-light-ascends-paces-aircraft-takes-off-vertically/248/1 "2025-07-13T00:24:50Z")

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![07131952-WashingtonDC-BB-1](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/uapdiscovery/original/2X/2/2890c3f9a7bc37340532d2255e5c48c8325e85dc.jpeg)

July 13, 1952 — 60Mi SW of Washington, DC  
4:00 a.m. Capt. William Bruen, piloting National Airline Flight 611 heading north from Jacksonville, Florida, sees a round ball of bluish-white light about 60 miles southwest of Washington, D.C., hovering to the west then ascending to the airliner’s altitude of 11,000 feet, then parallel course off left wing at about 2 miles distance. It takes off upwards at 1,000 mph when Bruen turns on all aircraft lights. [Eberhart]

Telex:

 ![07131952-WashingtonDC-BB-2](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/uapdiscovery/original/2X/4/459cb8dfebd7eba00240817361f0a84b094eecb9.jpeg)  
 ![07131952-WashingtonDC-BB-3](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/uapdiscovery/original/2X/c/c38cd91bf7efb23b2c43dbfeb09ddb995cbff1ed.jpeg)

Sources:  
J Allen Hynek, The Hynek UFO Report, pp. 90–91;

 ![07131952-WashingtonDC-HynekHUR-p90](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/uapdiscovery/original/2X/a/a4671a798c27868eec842724f2f979eb848443f8.jpeg)  
 ![07131952-WashingtonDC-HynekHUR-p91](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/uapdiscovery/original/2X/9/94a88d94589206d5d5204bf12a1d78ba65e21c08.jpeg)

Brad Sparks, Blue Book Unknowns Catalogue, Case 676, p. 148;

 ![07131952-WashingtonDC-Sparks-Case676-p148](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/uapdiscovery/original/2X/6/6541675d85f5e9b253aa39ab2a6cafd8ee0c9fd1.png)

NICAP, “Light Ascends, Paces Aircraft, Takes Off Vertically”;  
[The BB pages linked to here are not for this case, they are for some Ohio case on this date]

> **[UFO Report](http://www.nicap.org/520713washington_dir.htm)**