Shaw AFB, South CarolinaJuly 1953

On July 13, 1953, a military pilot and a runway control officer at Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina both reported seeing an unidentified object within minutes of each other. The two observers were in radio contact throughout the sighting, making this a rare case of simultaneous ground and air observation.

The pilot, flying an F-80 jet at 5,000 feet near the base, saw an elliptical object with a bright orange glow. To him, it looked roughly half the size of a Navy anti-submarine blimp. The object appeared to match the speed of his aircraft, about 300 knots, and was flying level on a northeast heading. It disappeared when the pilot descended through a broken layer of clouds. The entire sighting lasted approximately five seconds.

The control officer on the ground observed the same object about two minutes later through a thin overcast, though from his position the clouds prevented him from determining its precise shape. He saw only what he described as a pale white light, round in appearance, similar in brightness to a white aircraft navigation light. From the ground, the object seemed to be moving northward before vanishing into heavier cloud cover. This observation lasted roughly seven seconds.

Both witnesses reported that the object made no sound and left no visible trail or exhaust. The Air Force questioned whether local weather conditions or a meteor might explain the sighting. The base weather office found no evidence of meteorological phenomena that could account for it. An astronomer from Ohio State University who reviewed the case called it "definitely more puzzling" than the other sightings submitted that week, noting that it would be unusual for a fireball to pass through an overcast, disappear, and then reappear as this object seemed to do. The Air Force evaluation in the file is listed as "unknown."

The full case file of 30 pages is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.