Camp Hood, TexasMay 1949

On the night of May 7, 1949, military personnel at Camp Hood, Texas spotted unusual lights in the sky. Using artillery observation equipment and binoculars, observers tracked diamond-shaped objects that glowed reddish to greenish-white in color. The first object appeared at 1940 hours (7:40 p.m.) and remained visible for 57 seconds while moving roughly 100 yards horizontally before going dark. A second object followed about 25 minutes later, visible for 40 minutes as it moved slowly and lost altitude over a horizontal distance of about 120 yards. A third object appeared at 1900 hours (9:00 p.m.) and moved horizontally for 9 minutes before dimming and vanishing.

The objects appeared to be at altitudes ranging from 1,000 to 1,600 feet. Observers described them as 15 to 24 yards in diameter. The objects made no sound and left no visible trail. Military personnel used field glasses and artillery observation posts with triangulation methods to obtain these measurements.

This May 7 incident was part of a broader series of sightings that began in early May 1949 and recurred roughly every nine days through June. The phenomena became known informally among personnel as "Balls of Fire." Over 100 military officers and enlisted men reported seeing unusual lights during this period. The lights were typically round or diamond-shaped, moving slowly, and colored white, orange, red, or greenish. Observers noted that none of the sightings coincided in time or place with any known aircraft flights or military training exercises.

The Air Force's Office of Special Investigations documented the observations, and military officials requested technical assistance from the Air Materiel Command to determine what the objects were. The camp's facilities were deemed insufficient to conduct a proper investigation. No physical evidence was recovered, and no definitive explanation was offered in the records. The Air Force ultimately classified the May 7 sighting as unidentified, and the full case file of 24 pages is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.