New Orleans, LAApril 1950

On the night of April 10, 1950, four separate observers in New Orleans, Louisiana reported seeing an unidentified aerial object moving rapidly across the sky. All sightings occurred between 8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. local time and shared similar descriptions: a small, bright object moving in a straight line from west to east at an estimated speed between 600 and 800 miles per hour.

The first witnesses, a retired U.S. Deputy Marshal and his wife, watched the object for 10 to 12 seconds from their front porch. They described it as roughly 24 inches in diameter, egg-shaped, and fiery greenish-purple in color. They heard a buzzing sound resembling a large engine exhaust and noted a distinctive trail behind the object that was gold, silver, and fiery red, about 100 feet long and resembling a toy rocket's trail. A second witness, a school principal walking with her son, saw the object for about 20 seconds and described it as round and fiery yellow, almost white. She noted the trail as a dotted line roughly 25 times longer than the object itself, bright yellow in color. A third observer, watching from a second-floor balcony, saw the object for approximately seven seconds and described it as egg-shaped and white, resembling a white flare. He reported a vivid red spark trail that was tremendously long. A fourth observer, a photographer, also witnessed the object and noted it became very bright before disappearing suddenly, as if a light had been switched off. All witnesses reported the object disappeared into clouds or vanished suddenly, and the object made no maneuvers or changes in direction during the sightings.

Weather conditions at the time were reported as clear and fair, with no moon visible and fair visibility. The U.S. Weather Bureau confirmed that at 7:30 p.m. that evening, the sky was clear with ten miles of visibility and winds from the south-southeast at eight miles per hour. The investigation was conducted by the 112th Army CIC (Counterintelligence Corps) Detachment, which forwarded the reports to Wright Patterson Air Force Base on May 4, 1950. The Air Force evaluation for this case was listed as unknown.

The full case file, comprising 10 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.