Aguadulce, Panama, January 1953January 1953

On January 19, 1953, a newspaper reporter in Panama said he witnessed an object traveling at high speed with intense brightness over the town of Aguadulce. The reporter, identified as a respected former mayor of Chitre with a good reputation, was driving from Chitre toward Panama City in the early morning hours when he observed the object. He described it as having the appearance of no known aircraft. Other witnesses, including employees of a nearby sugar mill and residents of the village of Posri, reported seeing a similar object around the same time.

The sighting went unreported to the public for several days. On January 27, 1953, the Spanish-language newspaper LA HORA published the story and included a photograph of the alleged object. The newspaper director said the reporter had withheld the information initially so that the Panama Canal's air defenses could investigate without public alarm.

However, the Air Force intelligence officer who investigated grew skeptical. He noted that newspapers often print sensational stories to attract readers. He also observed that the photographer showed poor understanding of how to depict a bright object in a photograph. The officer wrote that the photographer tried to show intense brilliance by creating a white spot on the negative rather than a black spot, which suggested amateurish or careless work. Based on these concerns about how the story developed and how the photograph was prepared, the Air Force concluded the report was a hoax.

The full case file, comprising 9 pages, is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.