Fort Devens, MassachusettsJune 1949

# Summary: Fort Devens, Massachusetts, June 1949

On the evening of June 23, 1949, at 2307 (11:07 p.m.), a U.S. Army officer stationed at Fort Devens, Massachusetts saw an unusual object while driving near Lovell South Hospital on the base. The object appeared disc-shaped, like a plate, and glowed white with a red tint. It was about the size of a fist held at arm's length and hovered at roughly 15 degrees above the horizon, about a mile away. The officer watched it for 2 to 3 seconds as it made a slow bank to the left before passing out of sight. The sky was clear and very dark. He heard no sound and saw no trail.

A second witness, an investigation officer for the Provost Marshal, reported seeing something similar near Shirley, Massachusetts on the same night at the same time. This witness described a larger object, roughly the size of a frying pan at arm's length, with multiple colors including white, orange, pale blue, and red arranged in rings. The object appeared to rotate and moved in a circular path from southeast to west at great speed. It hovered between 15 and 50 degrees above the horizon, roughly 3 to 5 miles away, and remained visible for 1 to 2 seconds before disappearing suddenly like a light switching off. The weather was clear with many stars visible.

Both witnesses were interviewed by military intelligence on July 9, 1949, more than two weeks after the sighting. The interrogator found both men to be of average to above-average intelligence with solid character. The case file includes investigation guides and correspondence between Fort Devens and Air Materiel Command at Wright Field in Ohio, but the OCR text becomes difficult to read in later pages and does not clearly show a final conclusion from the Air Force investigation.

The complete case file, consisting of 15 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.