Denver, ColoradoAugust 1949

# A Colorado Springs Sighting

On August 20, 1949, an Air Force civilian employee reported seeing an unusual aircraft near Denver, Colorado. The man watched the object for about twenty seconds from his backyard at 1630 hours (4:30 p.m.), at an elevation angle of roughly 85 degrees above the horizon. He described it as traveling westward at tremendous speed, heading approximately 260 degrees (roughly west-southwest).

The object appeared to the witness like a swept-wing aircraft, roughly 85 feet across, about the size of a B-26 bomber. It had a metallic aluminum color. The rear of the wing showed what he called heat waves that gave the object an oval or fuzzy appearance. The witness estimated the craft was flying at 40,000 feet altitude and moving at around 1,700 miles per hour. No smoke or odor was reported, and the object made no sound at that distance.

The witness was a former Air Force Armament Officer with 54 months of military service. He was familiar with conventional American military aircraft. Investigators found him to be a conscientious, reliable person who appeared sincere in his account. After reviewing his background and experience, the Air Force Intelligence Officer conducting the investigation noted that he seemed qualified to judge what he had seen.

The file includes detailed checks of weather conditions, radar activity, and other aircraft in the area at the time. Weather balloons were being tracked by radio and optical means that afternoon. The Denver Bomb Plot radar equipment was not operating, but other radar observations were made at 1500 and 1700 hours with no unusual contacts reported. A complete list of commercial and military aircraft flying near Denver between 1500 and 1730 hours that day appears in the investigation file, showing normal traffic patterns. The full case file, reproduced below as held by the National Archives, comprises 29 pages.