Klamath Falls, OregonJune 1949

On June 23, 1949, at around 1400 hours (2 p.m.) Pacific Daylight Time, multiple witnesses in Klamath Falls, Oregon observed several unidentified objects moving across the sky. The first account came from a CAA (Civil Aeronautics Administration) maintenance technician who watched four or five objects from the ground near the airport. He described them as oval, about the size of a dinner plate, grayish-white in color, and traveling horizontally in a trail formation toward the southeast at a speed faster than any jet aircraft he had ever seen. The objects flew at an estimated altitude of 25,000 to 30,000 feet and remained visible for three to four minutes before making a sharp turn toward the east and fading from view.

The same objects were also observed from the airport control tower by the airport manager, who corroborated the basic details. He estimated the objects at 600 to 1000 mph and noted they made no sound, left no exhaust trail, had no visible means of propulsion or support, and showed no appendages or lights. The manager's wife, alerted by phone, watched them briefly from their yard about a mile northeast of the airport. She independently described the same phenomena, though she characterized the color as olive drab. A fourth witness, a CAA maintenance technician who had later transferred to Yakima, Washington, observed the objects as well. He described them as pin-point in size, white and sometimes transparent, changing direction rapidly with erratic flight patterns.

The Air Force investigation included a review of aircraft flight records and weather data. A position report from a National Guard F-80 aircraft at 30,000 feet was recorded at 1533 hours on June 23, near the time of the sighting, but this did not match the earlier timeframe or behavior described by witnesses. Weather records showed high, thin cirrus clouds at 25,000 feet, clear visibility, and light westerly winds at the surface. The investigation found no evidence of ordnance, naval, Army, or Air Force testing devices in the Klamath Falls area, and no photographs of the objects were obtained.

The Air Force's official evaluation of the case was "unidentified." The OCR text of this 10-page case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.