KEESLER AFB, March 1954March 1954

On March 2, 1954, an Air Force crew flying a C-45 transport plane spotted a bright white object hovering high above Mobile, Alabama. The object appeared translucent and had a white streamer hanging from its bottom. The crew, led by a control tower operator at Keesler Air Force Base, spent two hours circling beneath it and photographing it with a stereoscopic camera.

The object drifted slowly eastward at about 20 miles per hour. The crew estimated it was at roughly 50,000 feet altitude, so high they had to look up at an 80-degree angle to see it. Through binoculars, the object appeared to be about the size of a pea, which the crew reasoned meant the actual object was three times larger than a small house. They described it as resembling a balloon made of rubber or plastic. During the observation, an F-86 jet climbed to 47,000 feet to investigate but could not get closer.

The Air Force examined the photographs and analyzed the sighting. All sources involved, according to the file, concluded the object was a balloon reflecting sunlight. The case was evaluated as "possibly balloon" and closed. The full case file, including photographs and detailed observation logs, is reproduced below as held by the National Archives across 16 pages.