El Paso, TexasApril 1949

On the evening of April 15, 1949, observers traveling by car about 40 miles east of El Paso, Texas, spotted an unusual object in the sky. The main witness was Captain B. J. Walsh Jr., a U.S. Air Force officer stationed in Washington who was traveling west on Highway 30 with his wife and another passenger. They first noticed the object because of its odd shape and color. A second detailed account came from Mr. E. B. Miller, also in the area that evening.

The witnesses described a cigar-shaped object that appeared white or light gray, like smoke. It looked roughly 50 feet long when they first saw it. The object was initially positioned vertically in the sky, at an angle of about 30 degrees above the horizon, roughly 15 miles away from where the car was traveling. Over the approximately 15 minutes the witnesses watched, the object changed its orientation several times, tilting first to the right and then to the left. Eventually, it rotated to a horizontal position, began to lose altitude, and started to elongate. In its final moments, the object took on the appearance of a "wave trail" or vapor column before it disintegrated and disappeared from view. The witnesses reported clear skies and good visibility at the time. There was no sound or odor associated with the object, and no physical evidence remained.

The Air Force investigated the sighting and interviewed the witnesses, describing them as intelligent and credible observers. Investigators checked with White Sands Proving Ground in Alamogordo and Fort Bliss to rule out military rocket launches; White Sands had fired two small rockets early that morning, but nothing during the evening sighting. The case file notes that military officials were aware that numerous weather balloons and other atmospheric research equipment were being launched from the Alamogordo area at the time. The Air Force ultimately designated this incident as unidentified, meaning it found no conventional explanation for what the witnesses had observed. The full case file, consisting of 16 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.