Chanute AFB, IllinoisSeptember 1952

Unidentified

Summary

On the evening of September 16, 1952, three men in the control tower at Chanute Air Force Base in Illinois noticed an unusually bright bluish-white light in the sky. The object was about ten times larger than nearby stars. A control tower operator named Lt. Hogan, who had 850 flying hours and 65 combat missions, watched the object with two airmen as it moved across the sky for over an hour, from around 10:10 p.m. to 11:25 p.m.

The object started at about 15 degrees above the horizon, moving from a compass heading of roughly 50 degrees (northeast) to about 35 degrees (north-northeast). It then climbed higher into the sky, reaching about 60 degrees elevation and a 90-degree heading (due east), before disappearing as if it had gone behind a cloud. During its ascent, the object vanished three times for several minutes each, and when it reappeared, it was always higher up and appeared larger. Through eight-power binoculars, the observers saw an irregular round mass with two small satellites, or companion objects. one satellite appeared to the left and slightly above the center, the other to the right and slightly below. These satellites never changed position relative to the main object.

The night was partly cloudy with thunderstorms to the west. The observers noted that clouds never passed between them and the object. A nearby F-25 fighter plane was sent up to intercept, but the pilot never saw the object and believed it was just a reflection of a star. The control tower operators all agreed on what they had seen. The Air Force file notes that the witnesses were competent observers with flying experience, and the sighting occurred a few minutes after a balloon launch from the area.

The full case file of 10 pages is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.

Reported location

Chanute AFB, Illinois

Date of incident

September 1952

State / country

IL / US

Page count

10 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 15

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