Alexandria, VAAugust 1951

On August 19, 1951, at 6:05 p.m., a naval officer in Alexandria, Virginia, spotted an unusual object in the sky. The man, identified as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, was near the Masonic Memorial when he saw what he described as a "frosty" silvery object shaped like a football. He estimated the object was about 50 feet long and 20 feet tall, flying at an altitude between 2,000 and 4,000 feet.

The object moved across the sky in a straight line at very high speed, traveling roughly southeast and away from the observer. It took only two minutes from first sighting to the moment the lieutenant lost sight of it. During that time, the object traveled an estimated 10 to 12 miles. The lieutenant tried to get a better view by driving up Masonic Memorial hill, but by the time he arrived at the hilltop, the object had disappeared from view.

What struck the observer most was how the object behaved. It had no wings, tail surfaces, or visible means of propulsion. It did not leave a smoke trail or vapor trail, and the lieutenant heard no sound. Most unusually, the object's surface reflections did not change as it moved through sunlight. The lieutenant wrote that the object "appeared to be progressing along a controlled flight path at a constant altitude" and that "it did not behave like a balloon" or "look like any form of aircraft known to the observer."

An Air Force investigator reviewed the case and concluded the sighting was probably an aircraft. The investigator suggested that what the lieutenant saw was likely a reflection of the sun bouncing off an aircraft flying at a much higher altitude, between 6,000 and 15,000 feet. The investigator judged that the reported altitude of 2,000 to 4,000 feet was incorrect based on the other observations made. The Air Force's formal evaluation of the case was listed as "unknown," though the case file suggests an aircraft explanation was favored. The full case file, comprising 11 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.