Incident Report — Covington, Georgia, 12 June 1953

This document details a sighting report from 12 June 1953, involving an unidentified aerial phenomenon observed by multiple residents in Porterdale, Georgia. The report was compiled by Mr. W.W. Cook, a Ground Observer Corps supervisor, who interviewed the witnesses. The object was described as a bluish-white 'ball of fire' that appeared in the sky around 10:10 PM and remained visible for approximately 30 to 35 minutes. Witnesses reported that the object drifted from the north, circled within a two-mile radius at an estimated altitude of one mile, and eventually disappeared toward the west. The observers noted that the object made no sound and left no exhaust trail.

Official military analysis, conducted by the 35th Air Division and the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC), struggled to identify the object. Initial hypotheses included an aircraft approaching the Atlanta airport or a weather balloon released from a nearby facility. However, investigators noted that the object's circling behavior and the absence of an exhaust trail made these explanations problematic. The report explicitly states that the case was classified as having 'insufficient data' to reach a definitive conclusion. Correspondence between ATIC and Dr. J. Allen Hynek of Ohio State University highlights the ongoing effort to clarify the duration and nature of the sighting, with Hynek emphasizing the importance of the report for their broader investigations. The document includes the original questionnaire completed by Mr. Cook, as well as subsequent military message forms (TWX) documenting the communication between the 35th Air Division and ATIC regarding the case, which was filed under Project Blue Book as case COC 570.