St Louis, MOMay 1949

Insufficient Data

Summary

On the evening of May 7, 1949, a retired artist and his wife were sitting on their back lawn in St. Louis watching gulls from the Mississippi River when they spotted something unusual in the sky. The object appeared almost directly overhead, was about the size of a light private plane, and resembled a stingray without a tail. It had a dark reddish-brown color, though the wife thought she also saw a buff tint and a reddish glow like a coal stove along its right edge. The couple watched as the object oscillated from side to side while traveling in a straight path toward the south-southwest. It was visible for only about forty-five seconds and moved faster than any airplane the witness had ever seen. The object was at an altitude of roughly nine to ten thousand feet, high enough that, as the witness noted, it would have taken a newspaper held at arm's length to block the view.

Investigators from the Air Force's Office of Special Investigations interviewed the couple and checked multiple leads to explain the sighting. They examined flight records from Lambert Field and Scott Air Force Base and found that a Chicago and Southern airliner bound for Memphis, Tennessee, had taken off around the time of the sighting. They also confirmed that the only radar unit in the area, operated by the Navy, had shut down at 4:15 p.m. and was not operating when the object was seen. Police and FBI background checks on the witnesses turned up nothing unusual. Interviews with neighbors revealed no other sightings and no reason to doubt the couple's credibility. The investigators noted that the witnesses appeared sincere and reliable, with the husband being well-versed in air travel and aircraft types.

In the end, investigators suggested that the object might have been the commercial airliner, which the witnesses could have mistaken for something unusual in the twilight conditions. However, the investigative file notes that "no information was disclosed that would positively identify the strange object sighted." The Air Force's evaluation of this case was recorded as "unknown." The full case file, comprising 17 pages, is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.

Reported location

St Louis, MO

Date of incident

May 1949

State / country

MO / US

Page count

17 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 5

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 17

View transcribed text

4
1 CONTROL NO. suBsECT: Ltr DECIMAL FILE NO. _____ FOLLOW up on
E / R - 998 Pre igct GRUDGE gr
AREER. A eet — di
E CC. ° po TE |
3 FROM: 5D=(SI 2) Ral au DATED 6/z% 749 |
1 To: 1:45 No. INncLs. |
| RECORDING DATE
4 on ow
4 DESK AT=1 RECORDED 5 ~bi/LBo 0k 1115 |
4 ROUTED TO | BUSPENSE DATE ESTABLISHED BY t/NiTiats) pate
148 5 GT RT ' ——
1 '  IAXS | F. | 4 ~ |
f xT \ : Sata i
3 rE ere ————— tcf ln iii Cnn cis ard his
3 2 i !
1 : !
k Tr EP iii. pe cai ah
FE Kk ® |
k: :
1 DATE OF REPLY| OTHER DISPOSITION TRANSMITTAL
p AMC FORM NC 1 2
4 Sa ded oro
;. EE —————
7 SEZ OTHER SIDE .
EE FOR KFCMARKS
: F 3
EE {
Et § |
1 See PH J UR Lo ws) AZTONVAUUI QCLUCHS 04 us 10m may OY ULL, ayia I Tm.
: -- GARTA == ma--
E PROJECT 10073 RIEL |
i ———— a TILL At tn rt c——— EE ———— :
Bl te SATE » THAE GROUP LGCATION 2 & |
E | 2 Rg Det
jo MW Ves 1610 C7/1300~1¢30(L) St Louis, Xo
3 - LR  ———————
i » 4 po. " Ka he) | AIRCRAFT |
fg. ¥ WARRETRRRIRGRRE | :
E oh Lo ae | ;
pe TE Winide nN UT VudeG tO {
aN $
N LJ -] Ao » ~~ | ~ NAT } a n = 1 ar 3 {
E hi 110 data presented to indicate odject could NOT have been an “we
; A ——
; 3 vs maiNO eur CuvaenVAa 1 IUN 11. ORISF SUMAARY AND ANALYSIS |
a A . IR 2a 13rd ~T. (observer ab. tes obi
4 ‘J leginds Coject was arperent sise of a light pAAhe (observer sta <5 pa Ph
23 TRE y ocak Ra - vagy 1 ~+ 1a ® or ) ¢¢ BN YH po -
Beagrie SSERVATION would nave taken nespaper at arms iengin to ehsLruaet view or ln.
i ve 0 Q CF CUSER VA [(NA%]) Reiterates Dark reddish brown. Chserver stated Co jC wv aroeared i
3 Et Var SS h Sa CL . EEE ve dad :
Torun dat cen | buff colored. Shape of object like a ray fish Witpout tail, i
8 Siseam SR SUA D k z Mi a a 3 K] 2 + Ls Sas H
i le CLUREE Tr ——— somewhat triangular, voject covered 60 ceg of are =n ye fo 3
Ex . \oC 2 3 5 : ia
a eeu Cbject reflected glint or reflection from right 8108, oStraighy
E : : 3 f i t
i > ars flight, but was rolling or oscillating from side to side.
i v. 2HITOS 4 :
3 3 Yos .
E AE
SY. PaYSICAL EVIDENCE |
A wo Yous :
pr HE f
E- :
i FCA
: E he nN Arno I~ r= 4 . Tr) #480 Pen move Na rom!
3 "™
E F 3

/ 17

Use ← → keys to navigate · scans hosted by the U.S. National Archives

Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28934666