Project Blue Book Case File
Dravesburg, Pa., July 1948 - Incident Number: 160July 1948
Summary
On the night of July 4, 1948, a couple sitting on their lawn in Dravesburg, Pennsylvania watched the sky at around 11:15 p.m. They first thought they saw a star moving across the sky. The object was the same color and size as a star, so they briefly wondered if it was an airplane. But it made no sound, which ruled that out. The object moved across the sky, then stopped for about 5 seconds. It changed direction slightly, moved straight again, and stopped a second time for at least 15 seconds. Finally it moved a short distance and vanished completely.
The witnesses noted that when the object stopped in the sky, it looked exactly like an ordinary star. The only reason they could tell something strange was happening was by watching its movement over time. The observer wrote to the War Department about the sighting and mentioned that he lived about two and a half miles from two women who had reported seeing a "flying saucer" in daylight on the same day. He asked whether the sightings had any connection to the unusual aerial activity being reported in the region.
The Air Force investigators offered several possible explanations in their notes. They suggested the object might have been a lit balloon or a special "county fair" type of balloon released as part of Independence Day celebrations. Another possibility was that the observer was standing close to the Allemeny County airfield and may have seen a pilot balloon (a small balloon used to measure wind patterns). They also suggested that when the object appeared to stop and change direction, it might have simply been an optical illusion caused by the observer's perspective.
The investigators concluded there was no astronomical explanation for the incident. However, the file contains no definitive conclusion about what was actually seen. The full case file, consisting of nine pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.
Reported location
Dravesburg, Pa., July 1948 - Incident Number: 160
Date of incident
July 1948
State / country
? / XX
Page count
9 scanned pages
USAF evaluation
unknown
Microfilm
T1206, Roll 2