Biloxi, Hattiesburg, MississippiAugust 1949

On the evening of August 8, 1949, two sightings of an unidentified object took place within a few hours of each other in southern Mississippi. In Hattiesburg, at approximately 2030 hours (8:30 p.m.), a man observing from his front porch saw a sphere-shaped object that glowed soft yellow, roughly the size of a softball. The object moved across the sky at high speed, remained visible for one to two seconds, and disappeared behind trees. A short time later, a second witness in Hattiesburg observed a circular object that tapered to a fine point. This object was luminous, with a bright yellow front that faded into a bluish color at the rear. It also remained visible for about one second and moved faster than any jet the observer had ever seen.

Separately, on the same evening around 2000 hours (8 p.m.), a first lieutenant stationed at Keesler Air Force Base near Biloxi reported sighting an unidentified object while standing on the seawall near the beach. The officer described it as resembling a large beach ball, roughly two feet in diameter, colored bright yellow with a faint glow around it like moonlight filtered through fog. He estimated the object was traveling at 600 to 800 miles per hour at an altitude near 1,000 feet, moving in a straight line from north to south. The object remained in view for approximately twenty seconds before it simply blinked out and vanished. The officer, a bombardier with excellent qualifications, noted no sound or visible exhaust and described the disappearance as instantaneous rather than gradual.

The Air Force's Office of Special Investigations coordinated interviews with both groups of observers. The Hattiesburg witnesses were deemed reliable, though one was noted as a moderately heavy drinker of a braggadocio type. The Keesler officer was considered excellent and reliable based on his professional training and service record. Weather data from surrounding towns was collected, though no weather station operated in Hattiesburg itself. The report notes that the Biloxi sighting occurred only seventeen hours after a similar object had been reported near New Orleans, Louisiana.

The Air Force investigation found no physical evidence, photographs, or radar correlations. No conventional explanation was documented in the surviving file. The full case file, comprising 17 pages, is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.