Air Intelligence Information Report: Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) - Panama City, Florida

On 19 November 1953, at approximately 06:15, an Assistant Fire Chief at the US Naval Mine Countermeasures Station in Panama City, Florida, observed an unidentified aerial object. The witness described the object as a very large, flat, metallic, aluminum-colored craft, which he estimated to be larger than a B-29 aircraft. According to the report, the object approached the station from the north, descending at a 30-degree angle while maintaining a horizontal level. It hovered over the station for approximately one minute before flying around the facility. It then climbed at a 30-degree angle back toward the direction from which it had arrived, stopped, and finally ascended straight up until it disappeared. The witness reported that no sound was emitted by the object. The observation lasted approximately five minutes. The weather conditions were reported as clear with scattered clouds at 12,000 feet and 10 miles visibility. No optical aids were used by the observer. The Wing Intelligence Office at Tyndall Air Force Base investigated the incident. Their report notes that while the witness was considered sincere and serious, he was deemed a poor judge of altitude. Furthermore, the investigation confirmed that seventeen local aircraft were flying in the area at the time of the sighting, and local radar recorded no unidentified contacts. Consequently, the official conclusion reached by the investigating NCOIC was that the sighting was likely a local aircraft.