Chapel Hill, N. C., July 1948July 1948

On the evening of July 7, 1948, three witnesses in Chapel Hill, North Carolina heard an unusual sound around 2114 and 2115 (9:14 and 9:15 p.m.). The witnesses included a lieutenant in the U.S. Naval Reserve and a mathematics instructor at the University of North Carolina, along with a captain in the Infantry Reserve. According to their account, the sound came from aircraft traveling at extreme altitude and at high speed, moving toward the east-northeast. The weather that night was clear.

However, the witnesses did not actually see any objects. The Air Force report notes specifically that "no object was seen" by the observers. No exhaust trails were visible, and the only evidence of the aircraft was a characteristic jet sound that witnesses heard.

The Air Force investigated the incident and considered whether the sound might have come from actual aircraft. The file notes that fireballs and bright meteors are sometimes known to produce sounds similar to rolling thunder, but the investigators concluded that actual aircraft were more likely the source of the noise they heard. The case file indicates that no definitive explanation was reached, leaving it classified as unidentified but not visually observed.

The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives across 7 pages.