Huntsville, OhioJune 1949

On June 11, 1949, a man driving south of Huntsville, Ohio saw an object in the sky that appeared to dive directly at his car. He pulled over and got out for a better look. The object was silver and shiny, shaped like a circle or disc, with small fins or projections hanging from its lower half that reminded him of a seal's flippers. The whole sighting lasted less than two minutes.

The observer reported that the object approached at tremendous speed from in front of him and slightly to his right. When it got to about 1,000 feet above the ground, it made a sharp right turn and headed north and west. The turn seemed jerky and unnatural for an airplane, almost like a puppet on a string being guided by someone. As it banked, the object's shape appeared to change. At one angle it looked oval with small objects sticking out from the bottom. At another angle, when it was moving away from him, it took on the shape of a thin, perpendicular line, possibly because of the angle at which he was viewing it. The object was very brilliant, possibly due to sunlight reflection off its polished surface. The observer heard no sound and saw no smoke or flames.

The observer was an employee of Standard Oil with above-average intelligence, according to the Air Force officer who interviewed him. The officer noted that while the man felt embarrassed reporting the sighting, he believed it was his duty to tell authorities. The observer checked with workers at a filling station in Huntsville to see if anyone else had seen the object or heard an airplane overhead. Both men said they had not.

The Air Force's conclusion on the case file states that there was no data presented to indicate the object could not have been an aircraft. The full case file, 13 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.