New Delhi,India, March 1951March 1951

On the morning of March 15, 1951, in New Delhi, India, a cigar-shaped object was spotted by the chief aeronautical engineer of the Delhi Flying Club and about two dozen witnesses, including mechanics and helpers. The object appeared first as a whitish cloud roughly 700 feet long and 3,000 to 4,000 feet high. As it continued overhead, it transformed into a bullet shape with a white tail about 100 feet long. The witnesses watched it make a wide loop over the airport field, disappear at the top of the loop, and reappear on its descent before heading south at high speed. The sighting lasted about seven and a half minutes. The sky was clear with good visibility at the time.

The chief engineer, who had held pilot and engineer licenses since 1935 and worked in aeronautical fields for two decades, described the object's behavior in detail. The exhaust appeared white at low speeds but turned black when the object accelerated. He estimated the object's top speed at roughly 2,000 miles per hour, about three times faster than a British Vampire jet cruiser. He noted the object moved with no visible control surfaces and seemed to be under either manual or wireless control. The exhaust trail remained visible in the sky for over twenty minutes after the object departed. None of the witnesses heard any sound during the sighting.

The case was forwarded as an official air intelligence report by a U.S. Air Force captain serving as assistant air attache. An independent observer familiar with Indian aircraft confirmed that all twenty-five witnesses told consistent stories and agreed the object was unconventional. The Air Force record card listed the conclusion as "possibly balloon," though the detailed investigative file notes the case remained unidentified.

The complete 7-page case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.