San Francisco, Calif., November 1950November 1950

On the morning of November 3, 1950, a bright, round object appeared in the sky directly above San Francisco. Multiple witnesses saw it from the Southern Pacific Freight Yard near 4th and 5th Streets. The object was about the size of a silver dollar, white in color, and completely silent. It hung in the air without any visible means of propulsion or exhaust, and it showed no moving parts or aerodynamic features.

The witnesses watched the object for twenty to thirty minutes as it drifted roughly ten degrees across the sky. One of the main observers, a man working at the freight yard, estimated the object's altitude at 20,000 feet by comparing it to a medium-sized aircraft flying at that height. The eight or ten railway workers who saw it had no background in aviation or aeronautics. The Air Force interviewed the primary witness and recorded his account in an official report dated November 3, 1950.

The records show that no investigative action was taken by the Air Force's Office of Special Investigations beyond gathering the initial witness statement. The file does not indicate whether the Air Force reached a final conclusion about what the object was. The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, consisting of 7 pages.