Danville, Ky., January 1948 - Incident Number: 49January 1948

Insufficient Data

Summary

On the evening of January 9, 1948, a couple driving near Danville, Kentucky saw a pencil-shaped object flying very high above them. The object left a long trail of smoke or exhaust behind it as it traveled west in a straight line across the sky.

Shortly after the sighting, the trail suddenly transformed into what witnesses described as a beautiful fireworks display of sparks. The Air Force later received word of this sighting through a WHIO news broadcast that reported the incident on January 10, 1948.

The case file notes that although specific details about distance, time, sound, size, color, and construction were not recorded, the fact that the object showed a long trail and exploded into sparks made it "entirely probable that it was a fireball." The Air Force appears to have accepted this explanation, though the file does not state a formal conclusion. The incident was catalogued as case number 49 in Project Blue Book's records.

The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, consisting of 6 pages.

Reported location

Danville, Ky., January 1948 - Incident Number: 49

Date of incident

January 1948

State / country

? / XX

Page count

6 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 2

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 6

View transcribed text

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28930240