Atlanta, GeorgiaSeptember 1952

On September 1952 in Atlanta, Georgia, two separate sightings of unusual flying objects were reported to the U.S. Air Force. The first came from a woman on the south side of Atlanta, who saw a round, yellowish object larger than a star moving across the clear night sky at 2102 (9:02 p.m.). She watched it for seven or eight seconds as it traveled south-southeast. The object made no sound and performed no maneuvers. Her husband was an Eastern Air Line pilot.

The second sighting occurred the same night from a point about five or six miles north of Atlanta on Peachtree Road. The observer was an Air Force pilot and aircraft controller named Lieutenant Casper Lehuta. He watched two round objects simultaneously for fifteen minutes, from 2215 (10:15 p.m.) to 2239 (10:39 p.m.). The objects appeared to the naked eye to be about one-half inch in diameter, though the pilot believed they were actually much larger and farther away than they seemed. The objects changed color alternately from light blue to bright red and were very bright. They appeared to move slowly, though at such a great distance their actual speed could have been quite fast. The objects made no sound and performed no maneuvers before fading below the horizon. The pilot's wife also witnessed the sighting at 2238 (10:38 p.m.), and the observer later reported seeing a third similar object to the west. The pilot stressed that these were not aircraft running lights or stars.

The Air Force investigation documented weather conditions at the time, including clear skies, fifteen-mile visibility, and wind data at various altitudes. The evaluation worksheet indicates the source was considered good and the report details fair, but the final evaluation concludes "Probably Balloon," reflecting the Air Force's assessment despite the detailed observations from trained military witnesses.

This case file, held by the National Archives, comprises 12 pages.