Correspondence Pertaining to 'Flying Saucers' - June/July 1949

This document collection consists of correspondence from June and July 1949 regarding a sighting of an unidentified object reported by an amateur astronomer and executive at the Sangamo Electric Company in Springfield, Illinois. The witness, who operated a small astronomical observatory, reported observing a spherical, yellowish-red object, described as 'twice mars' in size, moving from the southwest to the northeast at a speed of approximately one degree per second in April 1948. The witness noted that the object was too slow to be a meteor and lacked the typical streamer tail associated with such phenomena. The witness also mentioned a second, separate sighting that lasted between five and ten minutes, which they felt required a different explanation. The correspondence shows the letter was forwarded from the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) to the Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, and subsequently to the Air Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base for action. In a response dated July 29, 1949, Colonel W. R. Clingerman of the Air Force informed the witness that while the information provided was insufficient to definitively identify the object, the description bore a 'marked similarity' to celestial phenomena known as bolides or fireballs. The Air Force suggested that the witness consult their local public library for further research on this hypothesis, while acknowledging that this explanation would not account for the second sighting described by the witness. The documents reflect the administrative process of handling public reports of 'flying saucers' during this period, involving inter-agency coordination between NACA and the Air Force.