Jackson, Miss, January 1949 - Incident Number: 233January 1949

On January 1, 1949, a private pilot and his wife, both experienced fliers, spotted an unusual object while flying over Mississippi in their civilian aircraft. The couple were descending toward Dixie Airport near Jackson at an altitude of about 1,800 feet when they saw something cross in front of them at around 5:00 p.m. At first, the pilot thought it might be another plane heading toward the airport, but as he watched it turn about 50 degrees to the southwest, he realized it had no wings. His wife, also a private pilot familiar with aircraft identification, noticed the object at the same moment and became excited by what she was seeing.

The object appeared to be roughly 50 to 70 feet long, with a diameter of about 10 feet tapering down to about 4 feet at the rear, resembling a large tow target (a sleeve used for target practice). The couple estimated its initial speed at about 200 miles per hour, but when it turned and departed, it accelerated dramatically, reaching between 400 and 500 miles per hour. The object was dark blue or black in color. They managed to see it for about 10 to 12 seconds before it climbed toward the southwest and disappeared. The pilot tried to point it out to his copilot, but the other crew member did not understand or see what he was gesturing at.

When they landed five minutes later, the couple reported the sighting to the control tower at Jackson and called the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA), asking whether anything unusual had landed at the municipal airport. After learning that nothing had recently arrived, the control tower contacted the Air Force to report the incident. An investigation confirmed that flight schedules from nearby airfields showed no aircraft matching the description, and weather conditions at the time were clear with unrestricted visibility. The observers were found to be reliable and well qualified to identify aircraft. The investigation also determined that no balloon ascents were recorded for the area at that time. A final evaluation noted that the object resembled a tow target but had no towing plane visible, and that no one else reported seeing the object despite multiple witnesses being present during the sighting.

The full case file, comprising 21 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.