Ft. Lauderdale, FloridaApril 1952

On the evening of April 9, 1952, a man in Fort Lauderdale, Florida saw an unusual object in the night sky. He was taking a walk when something caught his attention. The object appeared to be elliptical or cigar-shaped and brilliantly lit up, without any trail or exhaust visible behind it. It was moving extremely fast in a level, horizontal flight path, traveling from east to west. The observer watched it for about one second before it flew out of sight.

The man who reported the sighting was a former military pilot, which made his observation particularly noteworthy. He told the Air Force that the speed of the object exceeded anything he had previously witnessed. He estimated it was traveling between 1,500 and 2,000 miles per hour at an altitude of 15,000 to 20,000 feet, at a distance roughly 15 to 20 miles away. The object appeared about 35 degrees above the horizon in a southerly direction. Two other people saw it as well, though they were not identified in the initial report.

The observer called Macdill Air Force Base in Florida to report what he had seen. The Air Force investigated the sighting and reviewed the weather conditions at the time: scattered clouds at 25,000 feet, ten-mile visibility, and calm winds. There was no known aircraft activity in the area that could explain the sighting, and no physical evidence was recovered. An attempt to intercept the object was unsuccessful.

The Air Force sent a detailed questionnaire to the observer requesting more information about what he had witnessed. He described the sky as clear that night, with less than one-tenth cloud cover scattered across the sky. He noted that he saw the object with the naked eye and was unable to determine its exact size or apparent altitude.

The complete case file of 8 pages is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.