Edward Nugent was an air traffic controller at Washington National Airport (now Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport) who played a pivotal role in the 1952 Washington, D.C. UFO incident. On the night of July 19 1952, Nugent observed seven unidentified blips on his radar screen moving at extraordinary speeds, marking the beginning of one of the most significant radar‑visual UFO cases in U.S. history.

Nugent’s radar contacts were corroborated by visual sightings from other air traffic controllers and pilots, triggering a series of interceptions by Air Force F‑94 Starfire jets. The incident, which unfolded over two consecutive weekends, drew national media attention and led to a press conference at the Pentagon—the largest since World War II—where officials struggled to explain the phenomena.

Nugent’s testimony remains a cornerstone of the 1952 Washington “flyover” case, cited in numerous books and documentaries, including The UFO Incident (1975) and UFOs: The Secret History (2022). His radar data helped establish the credibility of simultaneous radar‑visual sightings and influenced subsequent U.S. Air Force investigations under Project Blue Book.