Incident #233 Sighting Report — Jackson, Mississippi, 1 January 1949

This document details the investigation of an unidentified aerial phenomenon reported on 1 January 1949, near Jackson, Mississippi. The primary witness, a civilian pilot employed by Dixie Air Service, was flying a Stinson aircraft with his wife when they observed an object at approximately 1700 hours. The witness, who possessed significant military and civilian flight experience, described the object as cigar-shaped, approximately 60 feet long and 10 feet in diameter at the front, tapering to 4 feet at the rear. He noted that the object had no wings, no visible exhaust, and no lights. Initially, the object appeared to be a large tow target, but the witness observed it perform a 50 to 60-degree turn and accelerate from an estimated 200 mph to between 400 and 500 mph. The object was in sight for approximately 10 to 12 seconds before it departed toward the southwest. The investigation, conducted by the Office of Special Investigations (OSI) at the request of the Commanding Officer of Jackson Air Force Base, included interviews with the witnesses and checks with local air traffic control and airline operations. The OSI agent noted that the witness was considered highly reliable and not prone to exaggeration. Subsequent checks of radar operations and flight schedules in the area failed to identify any conventional aircraft or testing devices that could account for the sighting. The report includes sketches of the object and weather data for the time of the incident, which indicated clear conditions. The final evaluation, extracted from the Project Grudge report, concluded that there was no evidence of an astronomical origin for the object and that the sighting remained unexplained due to a lack of physical evidence or radar confirmation.