Project Blue Book Case File
Los Angeles, Calif., August 1948 - Incident Number: 166August 1948
Summary
On August 30, 1948, a Staff Sergeant stationed at an Army and Air Force facility in Los Angeles reported witnessing a large object flying west of the city at approximately 2025 hours (8:25 p.m.). The sky was clear with visibility of about twelve miles. The object was never reported to the March Flight Service Center by any other observer.
The sergeant described the object as resembling a German V-2 rocket, but much larger. He said it was silver in color and flew a straight, level course from west to east without maneuvering. The object appeared to be at an altitude well above 20,000 feet and was moving faster than 700 miles per hour. He observed a blue exhaust trail behind it. Most notably, the sergeant followed the object's path using high-powered binoculars and was certain it was not a shooting star. The field glasses he used, converted from a German 88-millimeter artillery piece, had 10-power magnification and 5-inch diameter lenses. The object completely filled the field of view through these glasses and was described as "enormous." The witness estimated it to be larger than a B-29 bomber. He heard no sound.
In March 1949, the Air Weather Service concluded that a weather balloon could have been at the location where this sighting was reported. No photographs or sketches were submitted, and the case file does not state a final evaluation from Air Force investigators.
The complete case file, as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below across 15 pages of microfilm.
Reported location
Los Angeles, Calif., August 1948 - Incident Number: 166
Date of incident
August 1948
State / country
? / XX
Page count
15 scanned pages
USAF evaluation
unknown
Microfilm
T1206, Roll 3