12 Deg 30'N - 81 Deg 10'W Carribean, February 1949 - Incident Number: 253February 1949

In February 1949, officers aboard the merchant ship S.S. Antigua reported seeing three unidentified aerial objects near the San Andres Islands in the Caribbean. The sightings occurred on February 6, around 4:30 p.m., when the crew first spotted a round, silver-colored sphere. As the object passed directly overhead, multiple officers observed it change color from silver to yellow to red before disappearing into the dusk. The ship's captain estimated the object's diameter at roughly 12 to 14 inches, though he noted difficulty in determining its exact altitude using the ship's sextant. About thirty minutes later, at 5 p.m., the crew sighted two more objects off the port and starboard bows. Neither of these objects showed any glow or maneuvering ability, and both vanished in the fading light.

The Air Force's investigating officers noted strong similarities between the sightings and weather balloons. However, they found it unlikely that any balloon released from the Panama Canal Zone would have drifted to that position given the prevailing winds in the area. Investigators also discovered that two Russian 300-ton cargo ships had arrived at Colon, Panama, shortly before the sightings, traveling from the U.S. Virgin Islands to Vladivostok. Based on calculations of wind direction, ship course, and the location where the objects were seen, investigators concluded it was possible the unidentified objects had been released from those Soviet vessels while in free flight.

The Air Force's evaluation of the case was recorded as unknown. The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, spanning 12 pages.