Report of Flying Discs — Sighting by Private Pilot, July/August 1948

This document consists of a series of correspondence regarding a sighting of an unidentified aerial phenomenon reported by a private pilot in July or August 1948. The pilot, flying alone from Roanoke, Virginia, to Chilhowie, observed a light to his left while flying between Wytheville and Marion. He initially mistook the light for a locomotive headlight, noting it was moving in his direction at a speed slightly slower than his own. The pilot observed the light perform a turn up a valley and subsequently accelerate to a speed estimated at over 300 MPH. The pilot explicitly stated that the object did not look like a disc or saucer, and he observed no shape, exhaust, or red/orange lights. The report was forwarded by the Department of the Air Force's Directorate of Public Relations to the Air Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base on July 1, 1949. The Analysis Division of the Intelligence Department acknowledged receipt of the letter on June 25, 1949, informing the witness that his account had been made a matter of record and incorporated into their ongoing study of unidentified aerial phenomena.