Elko, NevadaMay 1949

On the morning of May 29, 1949, a railroad worker in Elko, Nevada, saw five amber-colored lights arranged in a V-shape traveling west at high speed. The man was working in the Western Pacific Railroad freight yard around 2 a.m. when he noticed the lights roughly five miles away and about 1,000 feet up. He estimated they were moving faster than 500 miles per hour, and the lights were spaced about 150 feet apart. He heard no sound and saw no exhaust from the objects.

The observer said the lights looked steady, as though he were seeing them through a window rather than as beams of light. When they disappeared, it seemed like something had blocked his view. He could not tell whether the five lights came from one very large aircraft with swept wings or from five smaller aircraft flying together. He was certain only that the lights existed, traveled west, and made no sound. The Air Force investigator who later interviewed him noted that the observer gave vague estimates of speed, distance, and altitude without a logical basis for any of them.

The Air Force checked aircraft communications records and found that two planes were near Elko at the times mentioned. One was heading to Sinclair, Wyoming, at 0222 PST at 15,000 feet; another was heading to New Jersey at 0243 PST at 13,000 feet. Neither pilot reported seeing anything unusual. Weather records from the morning of the sighting showed broken clouds at 7,000 feet, visibility of 15 miles, and occasional lightning west of Elko. No other witnesses to the sighting were found.

The Air Force's official evaluation of the case is listed as "unknown" in the file. No conclusion appears in the investigation documents as to whether the lights belonged to the known aircraft or something else. The full case file, held by the National Archives, comprises 10 pages.