UFO Sighting Report — Bedford, Virginia, November 1965

This document consists of a series of incoming messages to the Department of the Air Force regarding a UFO sighting that occurred on November 18, 1965, near Bedford, Virginia. The report details an incident where an unidentified airborne object was observed by three separate police units and two radar operators. The object was described as round, resembling a ball of fire, and varying in brightness and color from white to orange. It was estimated to be at an altitude of 1,000 feet and was observed moving against a 35-knot wind from the west. One witness, Patrolman Keck, reported observing the object for approximately 50 minutes. Despite the visual reports, the 649th Radar Squadron reported no radar contact with the object. Official inquiries with the Washington Air Defense Sector, the FAA, and local weather detachments confirmed that no known aircraft or weather balloons were in the area at the time of the sighting. The reporting officer, 2nd Lieutenant Richard C. Renairi, concluded that there were no known controlled airborne objects that could account for the sighting. It was noted that a series of meteor showers were in progress at the time, though this was not explicitly linked as the cause of the sighting.