Project Blue Book Case File
[Illegible], March 1949March 1949
Summary
On March 7, 1949, an experienced airline pilot flying from Toledo to Cleveland, Ohio encountered an unusual object near Vermilion at about 1445 (2:30 p.m.). He was cruising at 2,500 feet above sea level when the object appeared head-on in his flight path at the same altitude, forcing him to execute a sharp right turn to avoid a collision.
The pilot described the object as roughly the size and shape of an F-86 fighter jet fuselage, with an oval profile measuring approximately 18 to 20 inches tall and 12 to 14 inches wide. It was painted red. The object had wings mounted at the center of its fuselage, each wing about three feet long, painted light gray, for an apparent wingspan of six to eight feet. After the evasive maneuver, the pilot searched the area for several minutes but could not locate the object again, eventually concluding it may have climbed into an overcast layer about 1,100 feet above his altitude.
The pilot's initial impression was that he had nearly hit a powered model airplane. On reflection, however, he ruled this out because the head-on view of the fuselage appeared too large and three-dimensional to be a model. The pilot held an Airline Transport Rating certificate and had logged approximately 6,500 flight hours. After landing, he discussed the incident briefly with friends before later deciding to report it to the Civil Aeronautics Administration.
The file also contains unrelated observations from Camp Hood, Texas on March 8, 1948, describing a pale reddish light with a whitish trail seen by military personnel. The Air Force's evaluation of the main Vermilion incident is not stated in the file.
This case file comprises 9 pages held by the National Archives.
Reported location
[Illegible], March 1949
Date of incident
March 1949
State / country
? / XX
Page count
9 scanned pages
USAF evaluation
unknown
Microfilm
T1206, Roll 4