5 Miles South Of Placerville, Calif., August 1947 - Incident Number: 67August 1947

A civilian couple driving near Placerville, California saw a polished chrome object about 16 feet long and 10 to 14 inches wide traveling at high speed on August 14, 1947 at 1600 (4:00 p.m.) PST. The object first appeared as a white smoke trail. When the observers reached a position about 120 degrees from their initial viewpoint relative to the object, it seemed to be in a shallow dive and became engulfed in a puff of dark gray smoke roughly 10 feet across. After the smoke, the object disappeared completely. The estimated distance was less than 1,000 feet. The point where it vanished appeared to be about 800 yards from the observers, in an area of wooded, mountainous terrain with canyons and ravines.

The observers described the object as generally rectangular, though it briefly appeared to have a slightly curved top surface. It seemed tilted in a semicircle and looked more like a rocket than a disc. There was no sound reported, and no particles were seen falling from the object after it disappeared.

The Air Force investigator noted that some details of the sighting, such as the high speed and white smoke trail, suggested a meteor. However, the observers' description of the object's specific size and estimated distance made a meteorite explanation difficult to accept. The investigator could not account for the smoke trail if the object were a conventional aircraft, though he suggested that possibility as well.

The full case file, containing 10 pages as held by the National Archives microfilm T1206, Roll 2, is reproduced below.