GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINADecember 1952

# Two Pilots Spot Silver Sphere Over Carolina Mountains

On the morning of December 15, 1952, two experienced fighter pilots from Shaw Air Force Base saw an unidentified object within ten minutes of each other over the North Carolina and South Carolina border. Both sightings report a spherical, silver object, and the pilots' accounts form the backbone of this case.

The first pilot, flying at 15,000 feet near Hartsville, South Carolina, was heading west at 9:15 a.m. when he spotted a reflection above and ahead of his formation. He described it as about the size of a fifty cent piece, appearing to rise and fall rapidly (by his estimate, gaining and losing some 3,000 feet at a rate of 5,000 feet per minute). The object seemed circular but was difficult to pin down precisely because of the distance. After a sharp maneuver by his flight, he lost sight of it.

About ten minutes later, a second RF-80 pilot reported an object to the north over Greensboro. This pilot saw it at 11 o'clock high, moving through an arc to the 6 o'clock position over roughly ten minutes. He described a bright silver sphere with two small projections on top. The object was observed for around 45 seconds before fading from view. Neither pilot attempted to chase the object, and neither could determine its actual speed or size.

The Air Force investigated whether the two pilots might have seen the same object traveling across the landscape. Wind analysis and distance calculations showed this was impossible: the two sightings were 115 miles apart, occurring ten minutes apart, which would require ground speeds far beyond what weather balloons or conventional jets could achieve. The file notes that a rawinsonde (weather balloon) had been released at Greensboro around the time of the sightings, and another balloon was launched in the Hartsville area. The conclusion of the investigating officers was that each sighting was "probably a balloon," though no explanation is given for how a single balloon could account for both reports or how balloons could move fast enough to cover the observed distance.

The file contains no trace of skepticism about the balloon conclusion despite the apparent logical problems, nor does it note what specific qualities of weather balloons might explain the observers' descriptions of oscillating movement and rapid altitude change.

The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, comprising 31 scanned pages.