Project Blue Book Case File
Springfield, OhioJuly 1948
Summary
On July 23, 1948, someone in Springfield, Ohio reported seeing an unusual bright object in the early morning sky. The observer described it as an intense yellow color and said it appeared stationary at first, then seemed to vanish and reappear over a span of about ten minutes. The witness also reported hearing sounds that might have been from aircraft.
The Air Force investigator assigned to the case concluded that the planet Venus was the most likely explanation. Venus had reached peak brightness in the morning sky on July 31, 1948, and on the date of the sighting, it would have been a very brilliant object positioned slightly to the myth of east at around 0400 (4 a.m.). The investigator noted that Venus's magnitude at that time was about 4.2, making it roughly 100 times brighter than a first magnitude star. The investigator reasoned that clouds moving in and out could easily explain why the object seemed to appear and disappear, and that the witness's estimate of the object's size was likely subjective and unreliable.
The case file includes correspondence from military intelligence offices and the Air Weather Service discussing the broader Project Sign effort to classify UFO reports, with various agencies cross-checking to see whether sightings might be explained by weather balloons, rockets, or astronomical objects. Dr. Hynek's later evaluation, extracted from the Project Grudge report, categorized this incident under "astronomical" explanations with high probability.
The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, comprising 7 pages.
Reported location
Springfield, Ohio
Date of incident
July 1948
State / country
OH / US
Page count
7 scanned pages
USAF evaluation
unknown
Microfilm
T1206, Roll 3