Denver, ColoradoApril 1949

Insufficient Data

Summary

On April 6, 1949, at approximately 8 p.m., two motorists parked in the lot at Stapleton Airport in Denver, Colorado, sighted a bluish-white light moving eastward across the sky. The light appeared to be coming from the northwest. The couple watched the object for about twelve to fifteen minutes as it climbed higher, reaching an altitude of between 15,000 and 25,000 feet. The observers found the object's movement to be erratic and jerky, not resembling the typical flight of a conventional airplane. Several other witnesses in parked cars nearby also observed the phenomenon. All witnesses agreed that what they had seen did not appear to be a conventional aircraft.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation received word of the sighting and requested that the U.S. Air Force investigate. The Air Force interviewed the witnesses and examined weather activities in the area. It soon became clear what the observers had actually seen: at approximately 8 p.m. on April 6, a standard 100-gram weather balloon with a light attached had been released from the U.S. Weather Station at Stapleton Field. The balloon was tracked by optical means until it reached altitude and could no longer be seen. Ground radar stations and radio operators reported no unusual activity. Weather conditions that evening were clear with unlimited visibility. Winds at 15,000 feet were coming from the west-northwest at 25 knots, shifting to the northwest at 40 knots at 25,000 feet.

To confirm the identification, Air Force observers later watched an identical balloon under the same conditions, time, and place on April 8. Both the FBI and the witnesses who observed the test balloon definitively identified it as the same object they had seen on April 6. The Air Force officially closed the case as identified on April 13, 1949. The complete case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, comprising 25 pages.

Reported location

Denver, Colorado

Date of incident

April 1949

State / country

CO / US

Page count

25 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 4

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 25

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28933983