Hindsville, ArkansasAugust 1949

On the evening of August 10, 1949, a 73-year-old woman in Hindsville, Arkansas watched a bright disc-shaped object move across the sky. She first spotted it around 6 p.m. while looking out her living room window toward the south. The object appeared roughly the size of a full moon and shined like sunlight reflecting off aluminum. She went outside to get a better look and watched it fly across a ridge about a mile away, traveling from west to east at what seemed like a normal airplane speed.

The woman observed the object for approximately two minutes before going inside to phone her neighbors. When she stepped back outside, the object had vanished. About ten minutes later, she saw a small black airplane pass overhead, but she noted it looked nothing like what she had seen before. Throughout the sighting, the object made no sound, left no trail, and had no visible projections like wings or antennas.

Air Force investigators checked the details of her account carefully. They confirmed she wore bifocal glasses but not special polarized lenses that might have distorted her vision. Neighbors vouched for her character and alertness despite her age. The investigators also ruled out nearby sources: no commercial airlines flew over the area, the nearest weather balloon station was about 125 miles away in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and a small black airplane spotted ten minutes after the sighting did not match the disc-shaped object she described.

The Air Force's final evaluation was listed as unknown, meaning investigators could not determine what the woman had seen. The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, comprising 8 pages.