Columbus, GeorgiaAugust 1954

Unidentified

Summary

On the night of August 12, 1954, a civilian observer in Columbus, Georgia reported seeing a round object that glowed brilliant orange and red, fading to white. The object remained stationary and showed no movement during the six minutes it was visible. A C-45 military transport aircraft based at Lawson Air Force Base attempted to investigate, but the object moved westward and disappeared from sight as the plane approached.

The Air Force checked radar facilities in the area at the time of the sighting. An Eastern Airlines flight was also diverted to help locate the object, but neither the aircraft nor Columbus's civilian air traffic control station was able to see it. A weather squadron at Lawson Air Force Base recorded atmospheric conditions at the time, though the OCR text is too garbled to extract specific details clearly.

Military personnel at Lawson Air Force Base, including weather specialists and an AACS (Airways and Air Communications Service) detachment, also reported observations. However, the case file does not explain what these personnel saw or whether their sightings matched the civilian report.

The Air Force ultimately classified this sighting as unidentified, meaning investigators could not determine what the object was. The file does not offer any explanation, probable explanation, or concluding analysis beyond that judgment.

The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, spanning 11 pages.

Reported location

Columbus, Georgia

Date of incident

August 1954

State / country

GA / US

Page count

11 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 21

Nr ar cA | % : i PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD : 1. DATE : 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS : Hh Lala fr dn : : DO Was Balloon | 12 Jugust 1954 Columbus, Georgia O Probably Balloon 3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION A Lh : 2 Wos Aircraft SE ET AR Ground- Visual O Ground-Radar 0 Probably Aircraft CMT 3 ane BR AirVisuadl 0 Air-Intercept Radar 0 Possibly Aircraft 3. PHOTOS | . SOURCE x Was Astrenomical 1[ARS ; O Yes 00 Probably Astronomical 3B Ne Civilisn and Military SA Otis 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE | BEER 0] | ,Y 7 ide SOE ONL Ted «Th ate 1 in Hest g Cau a em Data for Evaluation Stationary . 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11, COMMENTS 7 Round brilliant orange and red, fading Mars in Vest, of - bo wiite, No movement, Zastern Airlines AA flizht could not see object. ; EEE sie Tm [he] ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52) 4