Incident #391 Sighting Report — Fort Worth, Texas, 6 July 1949

This document details an Unidentified Flying Object sighting reported by 1st Lt. Clifford Schoeffler on 6 July 1949 at Carswell Air Force Base, Fort Worth, Texas. At approximately 1350 hours, while working on the horizontal stabilizer of a B-36 aircraft, the observer noticed a silver, semi-transparent, spheroid object resembling a soap bubble moving from South to North. The object was estimated to be approximately 3 inches in diameter at its distance, traveling at an estimated speed of 300 MPH with no sound or exhaust trail. The observation lasted for 15 seconds before the object disappeared behind an obstacle. The observer, a pilot and aircraft commander with formal AEC clearance, was considered reliable by his superiors. However, the official investigation concluded that the object was a rawin balloon released by a radar sight unit at Carswell AFB at 1401 local time. Due to the proximity of the balloon release and the similarity in description, the investigating officers determined that the report should not be given significant credence. The file includes the formal incident report, a statement from the observer, and a cover letter from the Headquarters 7th Bombardment Wing to the Air Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.