Having last year waded into a topic that reporters seem perpetually ill-equipped to handle—unidentified flying objects—The New York Times has done it again. In the August 3, 2018, edition, reporter Laura M. Holson revisited the July 1952 “invasion of Washington” flap with the obvious intention of peddling a mystery, along with selling newspapers. The Times checked in with pro-UFO groups and cautious government sources, while largely ignoring science-based UFO investigators.
The 1952 Washington, D.C., light show was the main event in what is now known as the Great UFO Flap of that year. It was a time when the public’s attention was increasingly drawn to the skies, and science fiction had popularized the notion of extraterrestrial visitations.
The Times checked in with pro-UFO groups and cautious government sources, while largely ignoring science-based UFO investigators.