Bakersfield, CaliforniaJune 1947

Unidentified

Summary

On June 14, 1947, a civilian observer in Bakersfield, California reported seeing ten objects flying in a loose V formation at low altitude. The observer, who was relaxing in his front yard around noon, said the objects resembled the XF5U-1 "Flying Flapjack," a Navy experimental aircraft. He estimated they traveled at approximately 50 miles per hour. The witness did not attach much importance to the sighting until he read newspaper reports about a similar incident observed in the Cascade Mountains, which prompted him to recall and report his own experience.

The Air Force officer who reviewed the report noted that nothing in it ruled out the possibility that the objects were simply ordinary aircraft at a distance that made them hard to identify. The fact that no one else in Bakersfield had reported seeing anything unusual, according to the record, supported this conclusion. The objects' behavior and the single-witness nature of the observation offered little basis for a more definitive explanation.

The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives across 13 pages of microfilm.

Reported location

Bakersfield, California

Date of incident

June 1947

State / country

CA / US

Page count

13 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 1

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 13

View transcribed text

ud Ve 14 i HUA vw EWU
A Fi at mee at SI Ee ——————— a a Di ET Tr r—
i | 1. DATE « TIME GROUP 2. LOCATION J
[ - ) ry 1 ) 08 9 alse 2 ) i
| 14 Jun 47 lL. ersfield, Celifornia : 2 OR
| 13. SOURCE 10. CONCLUSION |
| Civilian Other (EIRDS)
| {4. NUMBER OF OBJECTS |
a oo |
\ \ PEPIN SILIS Ie 12 oH A { kia
[9 — SI
{9 LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 11. BRIEF SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS {
I Not reported Ubserver first sighted ten objects flying in V formation :
| eee et ee Lik § VEE TRAE 1 1 RHEE TL ied av enV SOV object
{ Fe TYPE OF OBSERVATION we di buried, Mok b one Sud ASL AL] Sav VASH QCLJeECH
LAYANE an 8 Vg
| Ground Visual
) : mm et ee ee eet et + ne 4 rs i
{ 7. COURSE
| ds Hast 2. 100 deg
| | 2. PHOTOS
|
| 3 f
1 Yes
xX No §
| 19. PHYSICAL EVIDENCE |
| [1 Yes :
i " i
§ XK No §
er rs et sr AS rt A. At 5. U5... 28 SSA Bn AAA BO 2 ed SO 1 4 1 A A A PE eB Al A AR i Fe 10 $l A TV LB Mr WT in Te i
FORM
TD sve 63 0-329 (TDE) Previous editions of this form mey be used.

/ 13

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28929125