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Case FileNARA NAID 28936672 · T1206 Roll 6

Project Blue Book Case File

Clark AFB, Philippines, September 1949September 1949

Insufficient Data

Summary

On the morning of September 8, 1949, five U.S. Air Force officers stationed at Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines observed a contrail (a visible trail left by aircraft exhaust) climbing rapidly northward at about 0400 hours (4:00 a.m.). The contrail climbed at a steep 30-degree angle and moved at an extremely high rate of speed. Several of the observers saw only the contrail itself and could not see what aircraft was making it.

Major Louis J. Sebille, commanding officer of the 67th Fighter Squadron, saw a small black dot at the head of the contrail. First Lieutenant R. J. Semrau also spotted the object, initially mistaking it for a skywriter before realizing the rate of climb was far too fast. The other pilots and ground observers saw the contrail but not the object creating it. The contrail stretched approximately eight miles long and remained thin and distinct throughout the sighting. The object traveled in a straight line except for a slight course correction, after which the contrail briefly showed a rolling or curling effect before straightening again.

The investigating officer noted that two F-51 fighter aircraft had completed a calibration mission for radar testing and departed Clark AFB about 30 minutes before the sighting. The officer initially concluded these aircraft made the contrail, but this was discounted because 30 minutes had elapsed between the sighting and the aircraft's departure, and the two aircraft had climbed to 30,000 feet while only one contrail was observed. The air intelligence section stated it was unable to determine what object or phenomenon caused the contrail. The case file contains 15 pages as held by the National Archives.

Reported location

Clark AFB, Philippines, September 1949

Date of incident

September 1949

State / country

? / XX

Page count

15 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 6

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 15
View transcribed text
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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28936672