Sighting Report and Correspondence — Decatur, Illinois, February 26, 1950

This document collection contains a civilian sighting report, a formal response from the U.S. Air Force, and a related news clipping. On February 26, 1950, a woman from Good Thunder, Minnesota, wrote to 'Project Saucer' at Wright-Patterson Field to report an aerial sighting. She and her husband were driving west on Highway U.S. 36 from Decatur, Illinois, toward Springfield between 2:00 PM and 3:00 PM when they observed a 'silver flash' in the sky. The witness noted that the object appeared at an altitude similar to an aircraft, but despite watching the area, they could not identify any plane. She requested information from the Air Force regarding whether others had reported similar sightings. On March 9, 1950, Colonel Bryan L. Davis of the Air Materiel Command responded, acknowledging receipt of her letter and stating that it would be forwarded to the appropriate office. The collection also includes a March 1950 sighting log, which categorizes the Decatur incident as 'Other (Reflection).' Additionally, the file contains a newspaper clipping from the L.A. Times dated February 23, 1950, detailing claims by Navy Commander Robert B. McLaughlin, who asserted that flying saucers were real space ships piloted by intelligent beings from other planets. The inclusion of this clipping suggests the context of public interest and media coverage surrounding unidentified aerial phenomena during that period.