Project Blue Book Sighting Report — Charleston, West Virginia, May 4, 1966

This document details a UFO sighting report from May 4, 1966, involving two commercial airline flights, Braniff 543 and American 90, over West Virginia. At approximately 0340 hours, the crew of Braniff 543, flying at 33,000 feet, observed an unidentified object that appeared to be descending at a twenty-degree angle. The object was described as a brilliant white light that changed to blue and performed a sharp left turn. The radar controller at the Indianapolis Air Route Traffic Control Center confirmed tracking a target on his scope for approximately 15 miles that did not correspond to known traffic. An American Airlines pilot, flying 20 miles behind the Braniff aircraft at 37,000 feet, also observed the lights and turned on his own landing lights for identification. The object eventually disappeared to the southwest at a high rate of speed. The document includes correspondence between the Air Force's Project Blue Book investigators, specifically Major Hector Quintanilla, Jr., and the airline management to identify the pilots involved and request formal reports. The official conclusion recorded in the project records for this incident is 'Aircraft Landing Lights.' The file contains various administrative documents, including internal memos, letters to the pilots, and a hand-drawn diagram of the flight paths of the two aircraft and the object.