Air Intelligence Information Report: Unidentified Aerial Object Sighting, Virginia, June 1952

This document is an Air Intelligence Information Report (TAC IR-4-52) regarding a series of sightings of an unidentified aerial object over Virginia on 15 June 1952. The report details observations made by multiple individuals, including CAA operators and military pilots, in Blackstone, Gordonsville, and Unionville. Witnesses described a spherical, luminous object that appeared to travel from north to south before drifting southwest. The object was estimated to be at an altitude of 25,000 to 30,000 feet. Military aircraft, including a Marine R4D and a USAF T-33 jet, were in the vicinity at the time of the sightings. The report includes weather data, noting scattered clouds and thunderstorms in the area, which investigators suggested might have accounted for the sighting. A subsequent check of radar data from Fort Custis, Virginia, yielded no unusual findings. The official conclusion reached by the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) was that the object was likely a balloon. The document includes correspondence and message traffic between various military units, including ATIC and the Air Weather Service, regarding the potential for balloon launches to explain the sightings. The report is marked as unclassified and was downgraded under DOD Directive 5200.10.