Richmond, Virginia, [ILLEGIBLE] 1952Circa 1952

On the night of September 1, 1952, a man and woman in Richmond, Virginia, saw an unusual glowing object in the sky. The object appeared very bright at first, then faded from view. After about two minutes, it reappeared, equally bright. This cycle of disappearing and reappearing continued for roughly half an hour.

According to the witnesses, the object looked like a sparkler and appeared to give off its own light. They estimated it was about three times as large as a full moon. The couple watched the object from the ground, facing west, and it hung in the sky approximately twenty-two and a half degrees above the horizon. The witnesses reported poor visibility that night, and an electrical storm was in the vicinity at the time of the sighting.

The Air Force received the report about twenty-four hours after the incident occurred. No physical evidence was obtained, and no attempt was made to intercept the object since so much time had passed between the sighting and the report. The witnesses' reliability and experience were recorded as unknown. The Air Force's final evaluation of the case does not appear in the available file pages, which remain unclear or illegible in several sections. The full case file, consisting of 15 pages, is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.