Conway, South CarolinaJanuary 1953

On the night of January 29, 1953, Lloyd Booth of Conway, South Carolina, saw an unusual object hovering near his family's farm about eight miles north of town. It was roughly 24 feet long and 12 feet wide, with a dull grayish color and a crescent-shaped wheel-like structure underneath. The craft hovered slowly at about 80 feet above the ground, making a low humming sound. Booth watched it for 20 to 30 minutes while it drifted at a walking pace. When he tried to get the attention of his family from 200 yards away without success, he fired his .22 caliber pistol at the object. He heard the bullet strike metal and bounce off. Immediately after the shot, the object tilted sharply and accelerated upward at about a 60-degree angle at an estimated speed of 600 to 700 miles per hour, traveling due west until it disappeared.

Booth had served as an anti-aircraft gunner for 22 months during World War II and said he was trained to identify aircraft. He stated plainly that what he saw was not a helicopter, airplane, or Navy blimp. The Air Force investigated and interviewed people in Conway who vouched for Booth's character and reliability. They found him to be truthful and of sound judgment. A CAA (Civil Aeronautics Administration) control tower operator at Wilmington, North Carolina, suggested that Navy blimps operating in the area might explain the sighting. The investigation noted that three Navy blimps were indeed in the region at the time, traveling from Georgia to North Carolina. However, the final Air Force conclusion states it was probable that Booth saw one of these blimps, though Booth firmly rejected that explanation.

The case file also documents reports of cattle and hogs dying mysteriously in Horry County around the time of the sighting, though no connection was established between the animal deaths and the object. The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, comprising 14 pages.