UFO Report — Near Clayton, Alabama, 11 December 1968

On 11 December 1968, a civilian observer with maritime experience reported a sighting of an unidentified aerial object near Clayton, Alabama. The observer, a 45-year-old merchant marine deck officer, first noticed the object after overhearing field hands discussing it. The observation lasted for one hour and ten minutes, from 1515Z to 1635Z. The witness described the object as a clear, plastic-like, dirigible-shaped craft with a dark patch at one end and a potential dark gondola underneath. The object appeared to rotate slowly in a vertical plane while overhead. The witness estimated the object's size to be larger than a standard weather balloon at high altitude and compared its visual size to the planet Venus on a clear night. The object followed a general course of 70-80 degrees before gradually becoming invisible in the eastern horizon haze. The observer was noted by the investigating officer, Ben Z. M. Gershater of the Office of Foreign Technology, as being knowledgeable about aerial phenomena and terminology, though his reliability could not be definitively judged. Official analysis by the Air Force suggested the object was likely a weather balloon or a small, isolated cirrus cloud at high altitude, despite conflicting meteorological data regarding wind patterns that made a balloon trajectory from Eglin AFB to the sighting location appear unlikely. The report includes detailed meteorological data, including wind speeds and temperature inversions at various altitudes, provided by the 6th Weather Wing at Eglin AFB to assist in the evaluation of the sighting.