Project Blue Book Case File
Columbus, OhioAugust 1949
Summary
On August 1, 1949, air traffic controllers in Columbus, Ohio spotted a puzzling object in the sky above Port Columbus Airport. At roughly 1900 hours (7 p.m.), a witness at the control tower saw what looked like a smoke trail at 30,000 to 40,000 feet, moving westward. The trail was unusual. It appeared suddenly at full intensity, held that intensity for most of its length, then faded away over about fifteen seconds. The observer estimated the unseen object moved through roughly fifteen degrees of sky during that span.
After the smoke trail vanished, a separate bright light appeared in the sky near the southwest corner of the airport, roughly 30,000 to 40,000 feet up. The light remained still for a moment, then slowly drifted toward the horizon in a northwesterly direction. An air traffic employee reported the light turned yellow and then red as it disappeared near the horizon around 2100 hours (9 p.m.). A Trans-World Airlines DC-3 pilot reported seeing the light cross his flight path from left to right at an estimated altitude of 45,000 to 50,000 feet. A trainee pilot in a T-6 aircraft, contacted by Columbus Tower to help track the object, said he could see a bright light in the west and tried to maintain a steady heading toward it, though he thought it might be a star.
The observers noted that the smoke trail looked denser and more white-grey than a typical aircraft contrail and did not dissipate as quickly. One investigator suggested the trail might have come from a high-speed aircraft using JATO (Jet Assisted Take Off) devices for extra speed. A newspaper article accompanying the report speculated about planets, notably Venus, though Air Force observers believed the light was something more unusual. The Air Force file lists the case evaluation as unknown, and the full case file of 14 pages is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.
Reported location
Columbus, Ohio
Date of incident
August 1949
State / country
OH / US
Page count
14 scanned pages
USAF evaluation
unknown
Microfilm
T1206, Roll 6