DOW-UAP-D104 — Delbert Newhouse’s Navy career and photographic service
Delbert Newhouse’s Navy personnel file documents a career in photography through assignments, qualifications, evaluations and retirement orders. It includes both favorable and critical performance appraisals and material dated later than the catalogue’s 1957 label. These records establish professional background; they do not independently identify the objects in his Tremonton film.
- File
- Document · Release 06
- Date
- May 2, 1957
- Extent
- 585 pages
- Agency
- Department of War
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Probed Assessment
The personnel file documents Newhouse’s photographic career, including favorable and critical evaluations. It supplies professional context, without independently identifying the objects in his Tremonton film.
Key takeaways
- Assignments connect Newhouse to Navy photographic, procurement, training and photo-triangulation work.
- The file preserves both Newhouse’s own career account and appraisals written by his superiors.
- A 1952 certificate records Secret clearance, not a Top Secret clearance.
- Retirement orders and a 1961 endorsement show that the compilation extends beyond its 1957 catalogue label.
Why it matters
These records allow claims about Newhouse’s professional experience to be checked against contemporary administrative evidence. Photographic competence is relevant witness background, but neither a favorable appraisal nor a critical administrative rating resolves the film’s objects.
Corroboration
The released personnel records independently document photographic duties discussed in the Tremonton interviews. Newhouse’s own appeals remain attributed to him; official evaluations and orders provide separate evidence within the file.
Open questions
- • How was this compilation assembled, given records extending beyond the catalogue year?
- • Which original photographic products survive from the assignments documented here?
Probed separates this editorial assessment from the source claims below. It summarizes what the released artifact supports; it is not independent verification.
Official Description from War.gov
This file contains the final personnel record of U.S. Navy Chief Warrant Officer Delbert C. Newhouse, who left naval service as a Chief Warrant Officer 4, then the highest Warrant Officer grade. In July 1952, Newhouse recorded 16mm motion-picture film near Tremonton, Utah; the film later became the subject of a Project Blue Book investigation. Project Blue Book was the U.S. Air Force program active from 1952 to 1969 that investigated the nature and origin of unidentified flying objects (UFOs). In addition to documenting routine assignments and training, the file records Newhouse’s career progression as a Photographer’s Mate, a Navy enlisted specialty responsible for photography and related imaging work. Project Blue Book investigators characterized Newhouse as an expert photographer based on his naval experience.
Preserved verbatim as source metadata. This wording is separate from Probed’s file-specific description and assessment.
File Context
Related entities
Tracker findings
The biography records a 1933 Navy enlistment
The dated service entry establishes the beginning of Newhouse’s Navy career; it is an administrative fact rather than testimony about the later film.
Photographic assignments predate the Tremonton film
Orders to the Naval Photographic Center connect Newhouse to professional photography before the 1952 observation, independently of retrospective descriptions of his expertise.
A 1952 assignment specifies temporary photographic duty
The Inyokern orders identify a concrete photographic tasking. They do not connect that assignment to the unidentified objects or establish a hidden investigative role.
The certificate records a Secret clearance
The level written on the certificate matters. This record should not be inflated into a claim of Top Secret access or used to infer knowledge of a particular program.
The file follows Newhouse into a Pensacola training assignment
The 1956 orders extend the documented career sequence beyond the year of the Tremonton filming.
A missing service record appears in the rank-reversion appeal
Newhouse’s request quotes a memorandum about an unavailable enlisted record. This explains part of his argument without independently establishing why the underlying personnel decision was made.
Newhouse’s favorable self-assessment remains attributed
The appeal argues that most fitness reports were above average to superior. The compilation also supplies the actual appraisals, which require separate consideration.
Technical competence and administrative criticism appear together
The February 1948 appraisal distinguishes photographic skill from administrative performance. It should not be flattened into either an unqualified endorsement or a dismissal of the witness.
A later appraisal praises practical photographic experience
The 1959 report provides a favorable assessment from a reporting officer, complementing the earlier mixed evaluations.
Retirement orders establish an April 1960 endpoint
The orders record retirement and advancement to lieutenant on the retired list, adding a dated administrative milestone to the service history.
The compilation contains material dated 1961
The USS Essex endorsement postdates the catalogue’s 1957 label. The title’s year therefore does not bound the contents of the released file.
Release provenance
- Release
- Release 06
- Official ID
- release-06-file-012-dow-uap-d104-final-personnel-record-for-newhouse-delbert-c-u-s-navy-1957
- Cleared
- Sep 18, 2026
Referenced Timeline
Navy enlistment recorded
The officer biography records Newhouse’s enlistment at Portland.
Photographic Center transfer ordered
Orders direct transfer when Newhouse’s temporary appointment ends.
Oakland duty reporting recorded
The Naval Supply Center endorsement records arrival for duty.
Secret clearance recorded
A Navy certificate records final clearance based on a National Agency Check.
Pensacola transfer ordered
Utility Squadron Five orders direct Newhouse to the Naval Air Technical Training Unit.
Retirement becomes effective
The retirement orders approve transfer to the retired list and advancement to lieutenant.
Source Claims
Claims are attributed to the released source and remain distinct from Probed’s assessment and tracker findings.
Newhouse’s officer biography records enlistment at Portland, Oregon on January 23, 1933.
Enlisted Portland, Oregon 23 January 1933
The biography records a temporary appointment as photographer in June 1942 and permanent appointment as chief photographer in October 1942.
Temporary appointment to Photographer 25 June 1942
The biography lists temporary promotions through lieutenant in 1946 and reversion to permanent rank in December 1949.
Temporary appointment to LT 1 April 1946
December 1949 orders direct Newhouse from the Bureau of Aeronautics to the Naval Photographic Center when his temporary appointment ends.
Naval Photographic Center, Naval Air Station, Anacostia, Washington, D.C., for duty.
April 1951 orders transfer Newhouse from Naval Air Station Barber’s Point to photographic technical work in Yokosuka.
Photographic Technical Office, Aviation Supply Branch, Yokosuka.
The Naval Supply Center’s endorsement records Newhouse reporting for duty in Oakland on February 5, 1952.
Reported this date at 1850 for duty.
August 1952 orders assign approximately three days of temporary photographic duty at the Naval Ordnance Test Station, Inyokern.
for temporary additional duty, of approximately 3 days duration, in connection with photographic matters.
A September 22, 1952 certificate records a final Secret clearance for Newhouse based on a National Agency Check.
National Agency Check
March 1954 orders direct Newhouse from the Naval Supply Center in Oakland to Utility Squadron Five.
Utility Squadron FIVE, for duty.
January 1956 orders direct Newhouse from Utility Squadron Five to the Naval Air Technical Training Unit at Pensacola.
U. S. Naval Air Technical Training Unit, Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida for duty.
In a request to reconsider his rank reversion, Newhouse describes photographic liaison work at Wright-Patterson and material procurement work in the Bureau of Aeronautics.
Head, Material Procurement Branch under the Director, Photographic Division of the Bureau of Aeronautics.
Newhouse’s request quotes a 1948 memorandum saying his enlisted record could not be located and selection would have to use his officer record.
The enlisted record of Newhouse, Delbert C., cannot be located. Consideration for selection will have to be based on his officer record only.
Newhouse’s November 1949 submission identifies one unfavorable report and argues that the balance of his fitness reports had been above average to superior.
The balance of all my fitness reports have ranged from above average to superior
A February 1948 appraisal judged Newhouse technically competent in photography but below average in staff administrative duties.
He is judged competent in the technical aspects of photography, but his performance of his administrative duties in both the photographic and operational departments is below average.
The July 1948 appraisal reports improved administrative performance and says Newhouse performed his photographic technical duties well.
He has performed his technical duties as Photographic Officer well.
A 1959 fitness report places Newhouse with the Pacific Fleet Photo-Triangulation Group as photographic, public information and reenlistment officer.
Photographic Officer (4), Public Information Officer (4), Reenlistment Officer (4)
The 1959 reporting officer praises Newhouse’s long photographic background and ability to apply it effectively.
CHPHOT NEWHOUSE has a long and an excellent background in photography and possesses the ability to implement this experience in an efficient and effective manner.
February 1960 orders approve Newhouse’s retirement effective April 1, 1960 and advance him to lieutenant on the retired list.
The file contains a March 10, 1961 USS Essex endorsement, so the released compilation extends beyond the 1957 date in its catalogue title.
MAR 10 1961
Source Material & Evidence
Research Map
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