Greensboro, N. C., September 1952September 1952

On the night of September 12, 1952, several people across eastern North Carolina reported seeing a bright, fast-moving object streaking across the sky. The sightings occurred around 7 p.m. (1900 hours, or 2359Z in military time) and came from multiple locations spanning nearly 45 miles, from Lake Waccamaw near Lumberton to the Fayetteville area.

The object was described consistently by witnesses as a large, round, glowing white ball trailing a stream of darker material behind it, roughly three times the size of the main body. One witness near Lumberton compared it to the size of an automobile and estimated it was traveling at least 500 miles per hour, perhaps faster. He saw it for only two or three seconds before it dipped below the tree line on a downward angle. Another witness driving on Highway 301 north of Lumberton watched it cross in front of his windshield, also traveling from southeast to northwest. A third witness fishing east of Elizabethtown saw the object right after dark and reported it was positioned between 15 and 20 degrees above the horizon. A fourth observer near Lake Waccamaw, about 45 miles away, confirmed seeing the same phenomenon.

The Air Force received written statements from three primary witnesses. All described themselves as reliable, experienced observers with military backgrounds. One had spent 3.5 years in the Army Air Corps during World War II as an armorer-gunner. Another had served with the 15th Air Force, also as an armorer-gunner, completing 50 missions overseas. A third was a lieutenant commander in the Naval Air Reserve. The investigating officer, Captain Melvin M. Glass of the 24th Fighter Squadron, interviewed the witnesses and found their accounts credible. He noted that if the Lake Waccamaw sighting was accurate, the object's path traced consistently across all the observations, running roughly from southeast to northwest for approximately 13 miles above the lake to a point some 10 miles south of Fayetteville.

The sightings also generated newspaper attention. The Fayetteville Observer and papers in Raleigh reported seeing a meteor at approximately the same time, date, and location, traveling in the same direction. One Fayetteville resident quoted in the newspaper described a huge ball with a tail heading northwest and reported the color as greenish-blue. The Air Force investigating officer stated in his report that in his opinion, the flying object sighted by witnesses around Lumberton and the meteor reported by the Fayetteville newspaper were the same phenomenon. Weather conditions at the time included scattered clouds at 1,000 feet, an estimated ceiling of 25,000 feet, 15-mile visibility, and north-northeast winds at 11 miles per hour. The last rain in the area had been reported at 1:05 p.m., with generally clear skies from then until 11 p.m.

Additionally, the file includes a separate report from an Air Force C-46 transport aircraft flying over Greensboro at 7,329 feet the same evening. The crew observed an unidentified object at approximately 11 o'clock position (to the upper left), appearing as a brilliant flash of fire estimated at 12 feet in length. The object was descending steeply from an altitude of roughly 7,200 to 7,500 feet and passed in front of the aircraft. After passing, it appeared as a round ball of fire before erupting into sparks and disappearing. The sighting lasted about five seconds. The observation was verified by two crew members, a major and a captain, as well as personnel in the control tower at Greensboro-High Point Airport. Weather conditions for that sighting were reported as CAVU (ceiling and visibility unlimited), with wind direction unknown.

The Air Force's official evaluation listed the case as unknown. The file spans 25 pages of declassified records held by the National Archives.