Incident #262 Sighting Report — Ganado Mission, Arizona, February 1949

On February 14, 1949, at approximately 1840 hours, a civilian couple traveling from Gallup observed an unidentified aerial phenomenon two miles east of the Ganado Mission in Arizona. As they ascended a hill west of a bridge, they noticed a brilliant white light in the sky directly in front of their vehicle, positioned somewhat above the horizon. The object remained stationary before descending in a slight curve toward the west. The witnesses described the object as having a white light with an orange tinge, though one witness also noted a slightly greenish color. Furthermore, they reported that sparks appeared to trail off the object both while it was stationary and during its descent. The primary witness, identified as a doctor, stated that his initial reaction was that he was witnessing an aircraft on fire, prompting him to report the incident to the Arizona State Police. The incident was subsequently documented by ATIC on February 16, 1949. The official assessment provided in the report concludes that the object was a 'probable meteor,' though it notes that the duration of the event was not reported and explicitly marks the case as having 'insufficient data.' The report also references an earlier incident, number 246, for the original report.