Sighting Report — Baltimore, Maryland, 27 October 1953

This document contains an Air Intelligence Evaluation Record regarding a UFO sighting reported on 27 October 1953 in Baltimore, Maryland. The primary witnesses were PFC John Raila of the 89th AAA Gun Battalion and a civilian identified as Mr. [illegible]. The witnesses observed a single object, described as slightly larger than a star, which initially appeared orange before changing to white with two smaller red lights on either side. The object traveled from the northwest to the southeast without performing any maneuvers, and the lights reportedly disappeared abruptly after the object passed overhead. The duration of the observation was reported as five minutes by PFC Raila and seven minutes by the civilian witness. The weather conditions at the time were noted as having a heavy haze that had persisted for three weeks. The report includes correspondence between the 647th AC&W Squadron and the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) regarding the incident. Captain Robert E. Warren, the investigating officer, concluded that the sighting was likely a conventional jet aircraft. He noted that it is standard policy for pilots to turn on landing lights when entering traffic patterns, especially in hazy conditions, and that the red lights described were consistent with standard aircraft navigation lights. The report explicitly states that the object was not detected on radar, noting that not all traffic in the Washington-Baltimore area is plotted on station radar. The investigation concluded that the sighting was not an unidentified phenomenon but rather a misidentification of standard aircraft operations.