Project Blue Book Case #1654. On July 22, 1952, a bright object was observed over Stafford, Virginia — a community along the I-95 corridor between Washington, D.C. (approximately 40 miles north) and the Marine Corps Base at Quantico (approximately 10 miles south). Stafford's position in this military corridor placed it beneath some of the most heavily monitored airspace on the East Coast.
July 22, 1952, was during the extraordinary interval between the two weekends of Washington, D.C., radar events (July 19-20 and July 26-27). Reports from the greater Washington area were arriving at an extraordinary rate. The case was classified "Unknown."