Project Blue Book Case File
Sandberg Pass, CaliforniaFebruary 1949
Summary
On February 28, 1949, a U.S. Air Force Reserve pilot was flying a P-11 aircraft near Sandberg Pass, about forty miles south of Bakersfield, California, when he observed an unusual aircraft. The pilot, a student at Fresno State Teachers College, was conducting a training flight from Fresno to Los Angeles and back when the object approached his plane head-on at an altitude of about nine thousand feet. The weather that evening was poor, with scattered clouds at twenty thousand feet, visibility of ten miles, and fog developing in the area.
The object the pilot saw was roughly sausage-shaped, with both ends resembling a jet aircraft nose. It approached from the twelve o'clock position (directly ahead), then disappeared behind the plane. About fifteen seconds later, the pilot saw it again to his right, and it made a one-hundred-eighty-degree turn in front of him before disappearing behind the aircraft once more. The entire encounter lasted roughly twenty seconds. The pilot described the object as about the size of his index and middle fingers held at arm's length, with no visible color or light except for a steady glow from its rear that he believed to be jet exhaust. He could not determine how far away the object actually was, since darkness and weather made distance judgment difficult.
During the encounter, the pilot attempted to radio another aircraft flying the same route about ten minutes behind him, asking it to watch for the object. An unidentified voice answered his call, but the pilot later learned that the other aircraft's crew never received his full message due to radio interference. The co-pilot of the P-11 was positioned in the rear of the cabin and saw nothing. The other pilot in the area also reported seeing nothing unusual.
The Air Force investigated the sighting by contacting military and civilian airfields throughout California, including Muroc Air Force Base, Hamilton Air Force Base, and several others. All responses were negative regarding any unknown jet aircraft in the area at the time. No radar sightings of the object were reported. The investigating officer noted that the pilot was regarded as sober, reliable, and credible, with no apparent reason to fabricate such a report. The file contains the full case as held by the National Archives in 23 pages.
Reported location
Sandberg Pass, California
Date of incident
February 1949
State / country
CA / US
Page count
23 scanned pages
USAF evaluation
unidentified
Microfilm
T1206, Roll 4