Project Blue Book Case File
Southern Pines, N.C., [ILLEGIBLE]Date unknown
Summary
On an evening in October 1952 near Southern Pines, North Carolina, a civilian employee observed an unusual green light moving swiftly across the sky. The object appeared elliptical with a long tail extending behind it. It moved in a counter-clockwise orbit, sometimes hovering briefly before accelerating again. The witness watched it for about fifteen minutes.
The observer saw the object best when it passed through the near side of its orbit, moving left to right. Trees limited the view of the complete circular path. The light was soft green rather than brilliant, and seemed to suggest movement rather than physical mass. The object stopped briefly at one point and appeared without its tail before resuming motion. The witness could not track it through binoculars. The appearance and disappearance were both sudden, resembling a meteorite's arrival and departure. According to the intelligence comment in the file, the observer was considered reliable, though the exact distance to the object remained unknown.
The Air Force concluded the sighting was "probably balloon." The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, spanning eleven pages.
Reported location
Southern Pines, N.C., [ILLEGIBLE]
Date of incident
Date unknown
State / country
? / XX
Page count
11 scanned pages
USAF evaluation
unknown
Microfilm
T1206, Roll 15