New London, Conn., June 1953June 1953

On June 24, 1953, at 2130 (9:30 p.m.) Eastern Standard Time, pilots flying three commercial airliners near New London, Connecticut spotted a bright flash in the sky over the ocean. The witnesses included crews from two Eastern Air Lines flights and one American Air Lines flight traveling in the same area, approximately 10 to 20 miles south-southeast of New London.

The object appeared to burst into flames and broke into two separate pieces as it fell toward the water. According to the American Airlines captain's detailed account, the initial flash came from the south at an altitude he estimated around 14,000 feet. The lights continued downward and extinguished when they reached the ocean surface. The captain estimated the fall took between one and a half minutes, and he believed the wreckage landed somewhere in an area bounded by Westerly, Rhode Island, Block Island, and Montauk Point.

The Air Force received the initial sighting report on June 24 and requested more information from the airlines. However, supplementary information arrived quickly. On June 26, the Air Force learned that two jet aircraft from Quonset Point Naval Air Station had collided mid-air at almost exactly the same time and location as the commercial pilots' sighting. The two jets fell into the sea in flames about 15 miles west of Quonset Point. After questioning the airline pilots, Project Blue Book concluded they had witnessed the military jet collision, not an unidentified flying object.

The case file notes that the geographic locations cited by different witnesses matched so closely that investigators suspected the pilots were describing the same accident. The Air Force evaluated the sighting as aircraft. The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives across 11 pages of microfilm.