1mi N Of Fairbanks, AlaskaApril 1948

On April 18, 1948, at 1306 hours (1:06 p.m.), Lieutenant Aylen M. Johnson was standing in his room at the Chechako Hotel in Fairbanks, Alaska, looking out the window when he spotted an unusual object about one mile north of the city. The object appeared round and flat, roughly eight inches across, with a brilliant silvery reflection. It moved very fast, covering about five hundred feet in just one or two seconds. The lieutenant watched it oscillate rapidly, shifting back and forth between a horizontal and vertical position as it traveled from the northeast toward the southwest. The object remained at an altitude of approximately two thousand feet and made no sound. He saw no trails or exhaust of any kind. His wife was in the room with him but did not observe the object.

The Air Force investigation noted a possible explanation. At the time of the sighting, several aircraft were flying in the local area. The investigating officer concluded that the object may have been nothing more than sunlight reflecting off the wings of one of those planes. The case file also notes a minor inconsistency: the initial report stated the weather was "clear and visibility unrestricted," but the actual weather log showed partial cloud coverage. This discrepancy would not necessarily prevent sun reflection from aircraft, however.

The file contains an interesting additional note: there is nothing astronomical about this incident, and the description matches that of a maneuvering plane reflecting sunlight rather than something truly unexplained.

The full case file, as reproduced below and held by the National Archives, consists of 14 pages.