Project Grudge Special Inquiry: Aerial Phenomena Sighting, 26 June 1949

This document is a formal Report of Investigation conducted by the Office of Special Investigations (OSI) under Project Grudge, concerning an aerial phenomenon sighted on 26 June 1949 in Media, Pennsylvania. The investigation was initiated after reports of a 'flying disc' or 'fireball' appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer. The primary witness, whose name is redacted, reported observing an exceptionally large, blue-green object at approximately 0005 hours. The witness, who was sitting in his backyard, described the object as having a circular shape, roughly half to two-thirds the size of the moon. It moved in a southerly direction for approximately three to three-and-a-half seconds before disappearing behind a house. The witness noted that the object did not produce any sound, did not leave a lighted trail, and did not appear to have an exhaust. He estimated its altitude at 20 miles and its speed at 7 miles per second, though he acknowledged these were rough calculations. The investigation involved interviews with several experts, including Dr. Charles P. Olivier, Director of the Flower Observatory and President of the American Meteor Society, and Dr. I. M. Levitt of the Fels Planetarium. Dr. Olivier, who received numerous reports regarding the incident, concluded that the phenomenon was an exceptionally large meteor or fireball. The report includes various enclosures, such as statements from witnesses and copies of correspondence between the witnesses and astronomical institutions. The official conclusion reached by the investigators, supported by the expert testimony, is that the object was an 'Astro (FIREBALL)'. The document serves as a record of the military's effort to investigate and categorize civilian reports of unidentified aerial phenomena during the late 1940s, demonstrating a reliance on academic and scientific experts to provide explanations for such sightings.