,2. LOCATION 0"' Te T l:.te GKOUP Fairfield, Oh:i ;.. SOU~Cc 10. CONCLUSION S. LEI"GIH Or O:.SERVATION 11. BRIEF SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS 15 seconds ize was the same asan F-82 at traffic altitude. Color was _6._T_Y_P_c_O_F_O-~-s-~-R-V_A_T_I_O_N white, incandescent. Looked like an owl or sting ray fish. G:."' tt.""ld-Visual ! 7. COURSi: i 9. PHYSICAL EVI&>c~CE bject new a straight course and faded !rom view in the S\i. I ~!CIDENT NO. Ll2 1. Do.te of Observo. t i on 21~ .'n!y 1 /.~ Date of Intervi~w 2 . Exo.ct Time ( l ocs.l ) 21~0 3 Place of Observation ! airf!n1d , O}ao 4. Position of observer Gr "'Und --t:o.tehin~ sky. 5 Y~o.t attr s.cted attention t o object 6. Numbe r of obje ots 1 1 Appar ent size ot F-22 at t r(.ffio :t l t l t uc1e ( 1000) S. Color of object ;h : te ~ inca:~dcsoer:t snow ov:l or stinr-ra.y tish (without t ail). Altitude 60 -6~ (1000 teet ) Direction f r on observe r 45 A6 12. Distance f rom observe r 13. Direction of flight of object(s) ~..orth to ,... th 1.4. T ima in s i(;ht 16. Sound and odor 17. Tro.il 1S. Luminosity 19. Projections 20. ~.fo.neuvers 15 Seoonda Li~e cloud f!nder or. th1Ti white aloud. Stnt.ight flight. 21. tlannor of d isappearance Fa do d 1n d istaDOe into S9l'. r.o olouda Additional information ooncorning objoct ~oo.thor Conditions ''~'f:LASSIFIEO UNCLASSIFIED 412 ru:'X) nnd o.driruss of obs,~rv~ r: D1st Condr OSI Occup~tion and r.obbi~s: Commonts of Intorro&ator r c lo.tivo ~ intolliguncv and chll.ra.cto r of obs~r1or(s) Uf~CLASSIFIED 1 '.1\l!t.liVJ.d~ ul..f\1-lf nn..ry 'i'. u&,CJl'nry A'J'IC Fonn 329 Qb:.;~rvcr ,.ntc~cd a.uto: o~ i.lc w:~ilc npr of\rcn to be o: .,;cct fror.1 HEADQUARTERS UNITE' rATES THE INSPECT~ .. GENERAL OFFICE OF SPECIAL INVESTIGATION P f N Y E S T I A T I 0 N uN~NVENTI<m..U. on 26 July 1949 at Eellinghau., ~:ashington SPECIAL IN~UIR1 -t:NCGN'ffiN1'IOi~AL AiaGRAFT REPORT MADE 8Y RE T MADE A DV ;120 A.cChord AFB .. :lshint.on OfFICE OF ORIGIN 00 tl20 t:cGhord "FE . ashin t on REfERENCE None -this is an initial report Investig!ition requested by Cowtander, 00 //20, l'cCnor d AFB, .~ash ingt on. The objec t was stationar y during the ten seconds it was sighted. It disappeared by decreasing in size. Investigation de t ermined th~t tbere was a broken over cas t at 7 , 000 f eet and scattered and br oken clouds at 3,500 feet. A cei l i ng light is turned on at the BellinJham Airport, Bell- ingham, '.'/ashinston, by the Ciu\ tation attendant t o determine cloud f orma- tion. y have seen this lieht reflected off one of the scatter ed clouds . Only one known aircraft in the vicinity at the time of s ightinB. lanet, Jupiter, located at an altitune of 20 degr ees above the horizon directly south from Bellingham, .;a:shington, wa s shining intermittently with a yellowish-white t o orange light. (Action copies) abWNGillU i I .. ' ACTION CO,T 'ORWAROEO TO Commanding General, ,u.:c, Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton, Ohio ATTN: l:CLU.0-3 D. P:X .C Hl:Ji l.!ajor, USAF Act OISUI CT eo .... uou UNC~SSIFlED 1. Thi s inves t it;ation was r ec.ue sted by the Comm;mder, fJ1.. ,{2.0, : c: crci AFB, .iashir.~ton, predica t ed upon r e cPi pt o f infor n!.ation from l~:t 1 t .. i.l..:. .. ::IT :... KUN , AC- 2027143 t Fie hter Squadron , ~'cC::ord .~FE, t o thP. efft:!c~". t..i.at Bel l i.:lPtit", . ls!:j n,st on, siehtP.-1 3.rt objC"ct ,;r : c h appeared as a bu r !'..ing aircr.aft at a !):)ro.>:in.a tel~, 001 0 ho nr s , 26 ,Jul ; 1<).:_ 9 . J t was li ke an air f oil, colored rerl.- orangP, 3.nd app~ared t o t-e ['t::.tior.J r~' j ~h elevati c n arJ=r oxir.lllte l : 15 de~rees from the observer, d i rect) :} ~()Ut~.. Tt 'I"'.S observed for approxir..~tel~' ter.. s e c0nds , :Ohen rli.sappe a rerl by d e c l" Pf!Si!.!.: :. r: :;e , svation renci:rl.nt: t he Si:ur.e. Th~ o':>j ec t was a lso obs~rvPd by r;:: ~:d.!)' s .. :.. ~e. CARTIR 0 . a nd the writer. AT BELLH!G!t.\'.'. I .JASHI~G'l'C 3 e v.'i ;: A,.:t.1 S"t 19491 ~ e i.nterViCWed by uf'ecj a l OdEPH C. liJciJES a Belline;ham, ,,ashirt:t0'1, ; nd the following informat-ion wa s obtai r .. ed; ....-.s t ated t hat on 26 ~..U~ 1 )'49 at approximately 0045 hour~, r:acific .:>ta ndard Time , he and his .;i. f e , wgr e returning to their nome by auto, traveline north on l~orthw~st .\oad , approximately six D'..iles north of .Oellins ha m, .. ::~.shington. a co degree tur:1 to his left from Uorthwest Ro~rl on to Smj t h ~oad, trav~).ine ~'Jout fifteen cile s pe r hour. For no particular rea s on , he e lanced t c his left ar~ noted an object which appeared to be a burning aircraft. Lo~terir.i the c ~r rdndow and continuing to watch the objec t as he drove, ud~ed i t to be the approximate size of the fuselage of a C-47 at the d ista nc e of six ui les. object appeared to be at an approximate anele of 15 degrees stove t he horizon, and was egg shaped when first sighted. He watched f o r 3f:pr oxir..'l tely ten seconds and the shap e changed to circular prior to its disarr.e~r:H:c e. ne described the color as red-orang e and a lighter shade of orange near the edges . outline w~s sharp !ind not distorted. The o bject was stationary with no visible means of support. observed no smoke , odor or sound . He stated that the sky was overcast, but there was a 100 to 1 chance t hat. a c l esr cut opening in the overcast may ha ve revealed the object for t he t en sec cnds it wa s visible. The moon Ylas not visible at any time that evening prior t o or efter the sighting. as not ~ble t o determine the constructior. of the object or of what material or substance it was c omposed. The object faded f rom view b7 decreasing in size. s wife saw the object for approxim~tely three seconds. Special Agent l:Nill.E L. CL6VELAND conducted the f ollowinr; investigation: 4. Mr. o. i BLANTON. Acting Officer in Charge, Civil Aeronautics ~1.d ministration, Bellingham Airport Bellingham, ,Jashington, was interviewed on 22 September 1949 at his office and securing the weather report for the 26th day of July 1949 noted the weather observance made at 0030 hours: 7,000 broken; 3,500 scattered; 15 miles visibility; pressure 14.9 ; ten!per~ture 56 deerees; ar.d surface wi'nd, south, 5 miles per hour". BLANTCN further stated that a ceiling light is used to determine the altitude of the clouds. This stationary light is turned on twice each hour durin3 darkness while the weather is actually bei~ o bserved. The light is very powerful and the bea m is projected straiht up. The weather report indica t ed t~!1t ..t4~'.t: ma -~:.t~e-~::~ .... ouds at the 0030 hours observance. BUUJTON advised that sometimes these cloudc bive off a redish color during certain atmospheric conditions or there is smoke i n the air. He stated that he did not have a record of the winds aloft, uut s,)d inforcation could be obtai ned from the United States ' .. eather Bur eau, .;)cattle , washingt on. He also checked the records of the Airways CC'mmunication .Station and stated that no contact was made with aircraft i n the vicinity betwf>en the hours of 0001 and 0100. ~1 flight plans ar e filed with the ~irways communication Station and the aircraft normally contact the station when they are flying in the vicinity. This includes military and civilian type aircraft 11hi~h 9re equipped with radios , excepting chartered commercigl aircraft. BLAiHvi.j advis ed that there has been some local night flying by civilian aircraft located on the field; however, there woul d most certainly not be any at 0045 hours with weather conditions being such as they were . BUU~TUN further advised that aircraft are requested to contact the Bellingham station upon ent ering the United States, and the records did not indicate any such contact. 5. l4r. Station Agent, United Airlines , Bellingham, ~,ash- ington, was i his office at the Bellingham Airport on 22 September 1949 d st~ted in substanee: The station is closed during the r~ght; however, one of their aircraft flies over the vicinity at approximately 0020 hours each night. The aircraft normally fly at 5,000 feet, weather permit tine . He further stated that if all lights were turned on in the passenger ~ompart.ment of the planes, they cotud not be seen from the ground . The exhaust flames may be seen from the ground if the plane was flying very low; however, he considered it 6. lLr. re-interviewed on 22 September 1949 at his horr.e and questioned regarding the possibilities of the sighted object being a cloud passing through the beam or light being projected at the CAA Station at the Bellir~ham Airport, and he stated as follovm: The object ~ppeared, or seemed to be, over the Bellinghl.lt Airport and that he h3S observed ceiling lights at Boeing Airport, Seattle, ashington, on numerous occasions and noted their effect upon the clouds. lie did not believe that the object he saw was a cloud, but admitted it could have been. He reasoned th9t the color was t oo bright and the sharp outline of the object was too clear. He considered the possibilities of' the object being a brilliant star, the moon, or a flare, then frankly 9dmitted that he could not identify the object as being anything he had ever seen before. He stated that he was very exhausted at the time he siehted the object and that he was not too alert or observant during the ten seconds the object was in 7. Major ~'JIIJ.TAJ.i R. FEIJ.EiffiAUli, Commaming Officer, 25th Ur Division, Everett, ~1ashington was interviewed at his office on 22 September 1949, by the writer and he advised tr~t the radar detachment maintains a log on unidentified objects that are picked up by the radar. This log was checked and revealed no information regarding objects that were sightedin the Bellingh~ area between UNCLJ\SStFlED A.T SEATTLE, \1A.SHING'ffiN 8 . Ur, L. J . SANDGEGilET, Lap and Plotting Oepar tffient, Unit~d vtates ather Bure!lu, Seattle, .;ashi ngton, was interviewed on 23 September 1949, nt his office and he stated as follows: The Patoosh Isl!lnd Station would be the nearest station t o Bellingham, . ashi ngton, whj ch records the winds aloft.. SANDSEGP~T secured the records and from the~ detennined the following i nforma- tion recorded at the Patoosh Island Statio:1 at 0100 hours, 26 July 1949: ".winds 000 feet, direction 270 degrees, 13 knots; 6, 000 feet, 240 degrees, 4 knots; and 9,000 feet, 310 degrees, 9 knots". SANDSEGRET advised that no weather ba]oons are sent aloft from the Bellingr.am Station. 9 Associ~te Professor of Astronomy, Univer s\ty of Jashington, ea , , was interviewed by Special Ae~mt C~tt'i'ER o. COOPER, at his offic~ on the campus, 23 September 1949, and the following information was obtai ned. ates that at 0045 hour s on 26 Jul:,' 1Q49, the planet J upite r was located ~t an altitude of 20 degrees and directl:' ~nuth of Dellingh.3m, ,,ashington. The planet at that time had a magnitude of "Linus 2 which v.ould make it 6. 3 times brighter than Vega. The color of the pl ane t was yellowish-white to orange, depending upon the atmospheric conditions. The professor stated the planet would come into view and then f ade out at )rregular intervals. 10. The following information is s ubmitted relative to the observer: Postal Address: , i'J!lshington Occupation: Storekeeper; partnership in retail grocery stor e with Place ot Business: , Bellingham, ,,ashington Flying -s a light pl ane pilot and is fall'iliar with airborne objects. ABILITY TO DETERlUNE: J.a-stated he holds 3 conmissio'1 health certi te with the rating of Airman } 2 . He added that he was r eturning from work and that completely exhausted. To the writer, ppeared to po~sess average intelligence, character and integrity.