Incident #204 Sighting Report — Panama, 8 November 1948

This document file contains correspondence and reports regarding Incident #204, a sighting of an unidentified object in Panama on 8 November 1948. A weather observer reported seeing a bright, star-like object with a long tail, described as spherical and larger than Venus, which remained visible for approximately 40 minutes until sunrise. The report includes copies of PAA (Pan American Airways) messages discussing the sighting, which was also observed by others in the region. Following an investigation, the Caribbean Air Command and the Air Weather Service concluded that the object was almost certainly the comet 1948L, which had been discovered in Australia two days earlier. The documentation includes a copy of a Life magazine article from 22 November 1948, which provides context on the discovery of the 'bright new comet' with a tail extending 15 million miles. The file also contains administrative correspondence from the Air Weather Service to the Air Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, discussing the review of incident summaries 173 through 233 and recommending improvements to the 'Guide To Investigation of Unidentified Aerial Objects,' specifically regarding the clarification of flight direction and radar settings. The final assessment for Incident #204 is explicitly listed as 'Venus' in one note, though the primary investigative conclusion in the formal correspondence identifies it as the comet 1948L.