Incident #194 Sighting Report — Andrews AFB, MD, 3 November 1948

This document details the investigation of Incident 194, a sighting that occurred on November 3, 1948, near Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. The initial report was filed by Lt. Com. Pain, a Coast Guard pilot, who observed an unidentified object. In response, two Mustang fighters from the 22nd Fighter Wing were dispatched to investigate. The pilots sighted the object at 22,000 feet and tracked it as they climbed to 37,000 feet. They described the object as resembling an inflated intestine, noting it was five to six times higher than it was wide. The object's speed was estimated at 2 mph on a heading of approximately 45 degrees. Strategic Air Command initially identified the object as a 'heavenly body.' However, subsequent information provided by Lt. Roherkemper, a Coast Guard officer stationed at Salem, identified the craft as a cluster of eight balloons used by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for cosmic ray research. The document notes that the original report was classified top-secret and that Strategic Air Command had requested the destruction of the original messages. The incident was ultimately considered closed once the identity of the balloons was established. The file includes correspondence from the Air Weather Service to the Air Materiel Command, dated May 11, 1949, which references the review of incident summaries 173 through 233 against weather-balloon data. The Air Weather Service recommended updates to the 'Guide to Investigation of Unidentified Aerial Objects' to improve the reporting of object flight direction and radar settings.