Air Intelligence Information Report: Sighting of Unidentified Flying Object, Baltimore, Maryland, 7 November 1954

This document is an Air Intelligence Information Report regarding an unidentified flying object sighting that occurred on 7 November 1954, near Baltimore, Maryland. The report details the observations of two witnesses, an Associate Professor of Surgery at Georgetown University and his wife, who were traveling on Route 40 when they observed a cigar-shaped object in the sky. The witnesses described the object as having a brilliant silver color, a blunt nose, and a fuzzy tail. They reported that the object was initially in a vertical position before slowly rotating to a horizontal attitude and moving in an easterly direction. The witnesses estimated the object's size to be four to five times that of a four-engine transport aircraft and its speed to be at least twice that of propeller-driven fighter planes in the area. The duration of the sighting was approximately 90 seconds. The report includes detailed technical information, including weather conditions, which were described as bright twilight with haze over the city. The investigation, conducted by Flight 3-H of the 4602d AISS, concluded that the object was likely a balloon. The report emphasizes that the meteorological data and the absence of other reports in the Baltimore area support the conclusion that the object was a common phenomenon misidentified by the observers. Despite the witnesses being considered truthful and highly reliable, the investigator attributed the sighting to an optical phenomenon caused by atmospheric conditions and the observers' lack of technical knowledge regarding aerial objects. The document includes statements from the witnesses, technical information sheets, and an opinion from the Director of the Princeton Observatory, all of which were used to support the final assessment that the object was a balloon.