Carswell AFB, TexasFebruary 1953

On the morning of February 13, 1953, a civilian witnessed three bright lights traveling across the sky near Fort Worth, Texas, at Carswell Air Force Base. The lights remained visible for 10 to 15 minutes. They were the same intensity as the rotating beacon at Carswell AFB and were white in color except for the center light, which was bluish-green. Weather conditions were clear and calm.

The lights began stacked vertically and were approximately 500 feet apart. They moved from east-southeast toward the observer at a moderate speed. Then one light suddenly accelerated 1,500 feet and stopped. The other two lights repeated this maneuver in sequence. After regrouping in their original formation, all three lights performed the same acceleration, this time ending in a horizontal line instead of vertical. These movements took place over roughly 2 miles at an altitude at or below 3,000 feet. Next, the lights maneuvered with the center light acting as a pivot point while the two outer lights swung back and forth like a pendulum. Finally, all three lights climbed steeply and rapidly reached approximately 20,000 feet.

Radar operators on a B-36 aircraft detected two of the three lights on the tail radar (APG-41A) about two minutes after the visual sighting. The radar blips appeared very sharp and distinct compared to known aircraft targets, though one blip was just above the noise level. When operators attempted to locate the lights on three different radar sets of other aircraft, the attempts failed. A check for ground returns also came up empty.

The Air Force analyzed both the visual and radar evidence. The radar analyst concluded that the radar signals were "highly probably" ground targets, possibly caused by a temperature inversion (a layer of warm air over cooler air that can bend radar signals). The visual sighting was believed to have been an aircraft. The Air Force classified this case as "unidentified," noting that the radar signals were consistent with ground clutter and the visual sighting was consistent with aircraft. The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, 27 pages in all.