Lakehurst, NJDecember 1950

On December 27, 1950, shortly before 9:20 p.m., two naval tower operators at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey spotted an unusual light in the southeastern sky. The operators were watching from the control tower, perched 265 feet above the ground atop Hangar No. 5. Using binoculars, they observed what appeared to be a white light that flashed on and off like a commercial airplane's navigation light. The object seemed to have a circular or oval shape, though the light and darkness made it hard to be certain.

The operators tracked the light for less than a minute. It was traveling at high speed about one to one and a half miles southeast of their position, at an estimated altitude of 5,000 feet. The object suddenly made a tight circular turn, then headed away toward the south-southeast. The turn was so sharp that the observers ruled out the possibility of an ordinary jet aircraft making such a maneuver. The weather was clear, with visibility extending fifteen miles or more, so atmospheric conditions were good for observation.

The sighting was reported to Naval Intelligence on January 3, 1951, and passed along to the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations four days later. Both observers had been assigned to tower duty for the previous twenty-one months and were considered reliable, sincere, and intelligent. However, the file indicates no other witnesses could be found, and the brief duration of the sighting limited the information that could be gathered about the object's construction, power source, or other technical details.

The U.S. Air Force officially evaluated this sighting as unidentified. The complete case file, consisting of 13 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.