Lebec, CaliforniaSeptember 1949

In September 1949, two sergeants flying a small private aircraft near Lebec, California spotted an oval, metallic object moving at high speed. The object rose steeply from the foothills below their plane, climbed to match their altitude of about 7,000 feet, seemed to pause briefly as if detecting them, then shot off to the south at tremendous speed and disappeared. The encounter lasted roughly two minutes. Both men described a dull gray or silver object about 30 to 35 feet across, with no visible exhaust, control surfaces, or sound.

The U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations took the sighting seriously. Agents conducted background checks on both witnesses, interviewed their supervisors, and reviewed their military records. All sources confirmed that the sergeants were honest, reliable, and in good standing. Medical records showed no abnormalities, and there was no evidence of drug or alcohol use. The investigators also spoke with the witnesses in detail and noted they seemed sincere and unusually intelligent about their account.

Because the sighting had occurred in the air, agents obtained aerial photographs of the ground below where the object was seen. When investigators traveled to the area on foot, they identified the unidentified spots in the photos as a cattle corral, a storage shed, a partially completed telephone relay station building, and a hunting lodge. Discreet questioning in the area turned up no other witnesses to unusual aircraft activity. The Air Force also checked military air operations from nearby bases. Two C-13 transport aircraft had been in roughly the same region during the sighting window, but their flight paths and timings made them implausible matches. Weather reports from Sandberg Weather Station revealed that a small weather balloon had been released around 1230 hours on the day in question. The balloon, roughly 26 inches in diameter and white in color, was theoretically in the vicinity and would have drifted northwest before turning northeast. The Air Force examined this possibility but the investigation file does not clearly rule it in or out as the explanation.

The investigation file notes in its opening summary that the sighting remained classified as "unidentified" by the Air Force, though it suggests misidentification of conventional objects as a possible explanation. The full case file spans 19 pages and is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.