Unidentified Flying Object Report — Cambria, California, 2 March 1953

This document is an Air Intelligence Information Report dated 16 March 1953, detailing a sighting of an unidentified flying object by four airmen of the 775th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron in Cambria, California. On the night of 2 March 1953, between 2100 and 2135 PST, T/Sgt Benjamin F. Brunges, Jr., A/2C Ronald E. Haag, A/2C Leo A. Delinski, and A/3C Howard M. Potter, Jr. observed a reddish-orange, spherical object suspended in the sky. The witnesses described the object as varying in size from approximately 12 inches to 1 inch in diameter. The object was reported to oscillate sideways, hover intermittently, and eventually move in a west-northwesterly direction until it disappeared from view. The witnesses noted that the object appeared to sway like a light suspended from a balloon. No radar contact was made, and no sound or exhaust was observed. The report includes individual statements from the four airmen, who were on duty at different posts at the time of the sighting. Captain Orville E. Bixel, the Director of Intelligence, evaluated the incident. The official conclusion suggests that the object was likely a bright planet, possibly Venus, which was visible in the same direction on subsequent nights. The report posits that the apparent changes in size, color, and movement were likely caused by the observer viewing the planet through an increasing amount of haze and smoke from local brush fires, which were present in the area at the time. The report concludes that the sighting was likely an astronomical phenomenon rather than an unidentified aerial vehicle.