Note well: “Eyewitness” accounts cite to an article written in 2001. By which time, the “tale had grown in the telling”
There is a lot more to this story....
This book is a calm and well documented discussion. Chapter 4, Crisis and Containment, 1952 and 1953, explains the full context of the sighting and the reactions of .gov.
https://www.amazon.com/UFOs-National-Security-State-Chronology/dp/1571743170
To ask .gov to investigate UFO sightings is like asking wolves to guard the hen-house—_nothing_ good will come of it.