Adapazari, Turkey, May 1948 - Incident Number: 170May 1948

In May 1948, a Turkish newspaper reported that a shining object resembling a meteor had been spotted over Adapazari, Turkey. According to the account, the object was seen flying at an altitude of about 200 meters (roughly 650 feet) before it exploded in the air. Debris from the explosion fell into a nearby village and killed a sheep dog. Local observers believed the object had come from the northwest.

Turkish authorities identified the debris as a rocket and said it would be inspected by experts. Some reports suggested the object might be connected to Russian experiments with flying discs being conducted at a station on Mount Alagoz, near Turkey's eastern border. The information came from a single article in the Turkish newspaper Yeni Sabah on May 5, 1948.

The U.S. Air Force office in Ankara was asked to investigate the incident fully and to work with the Turkish General Staff to confirm what had happened. The Air Force also requested that the Air Attache determine the original sources for the information published in the newspaper article. The file notes that it is extremely unlikely there is any astronomical explanation for the incident, though the OCR text becomes difficult to read at this point.

A follow-up memo from November 1948 indicates that additional information was being requested, but no final Air Force evaluation appears in this case file. The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives across 6 pages.