Incident Report: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, Perrin AFB, Texas, 25 July 1953

This document is an Air Intelligence Information Report concerning a sighting of seven unidentified aerial objects near Perrin Air Force Base, Texas, on the night of 25 July 1953. The report includes statements from three Air Force personnel—T/Sgt Robert Leley, A/2C Thomas W. Davis Jr., and A/2C Larry W. Skinner—who were on duty in the control tower. The witnesses observed seven spherical objects, each with a red light on the bottom, hovering at an estimated altitude of 5,000 to 8,000 feet. The objects were described as being grouped in a formation that changed over time, eventually ascending vertically before fading from sight. The witnesses noted that the objects made no sound and did not appear to be conventional aircraft, as they lacked standard navigation lights. The sighting lasted approximately 16 minutes. The report also mentions that photographs were taken by the observers in the tower. While the initial intelligence report from Perrin AFB treated the event as a significant unidentified sighting, a later document from the Oklahoma City Air Materiel Area at Tinker Air Force Base, dated 28 July 1953, explicitly states that the objects were 'definitely identified as weather balloon.' The file also contains correspondence from J. Allen Hynek, who was simultaneously investigating the 'Black Hawk' case in South Dakota, noting that the Perrin AFB incident was of interest due to the multiple observers and the fact that the objects were tracked from the control tower. The documentation provides a comprehensive view of the reporting process, including the initial witness statements, the technical data sheets filled out by the observers, and the final administrative conclusion that dismissed the sighting as a weather balloon.