SW of Boston, Mass., June 1949 - Incident Number: 364June 1949

On June 10, 1949, a pilot from the 58th Fighter Squadron at Otis Air Force Base near Falmouth, Massachusetts, spotted a white tubular object flying southwest of Boston at around 0845 (8:45 a.m.).

The pilot was flying an AT-6 aircraft at 4,000 feet when he saw what appeared to be a flying tube roughly 100 feet long. The object flew at approximately 100 to 150 miles per hour, heading between 330 and 340 degrees (toward the northwest). It held steady at about 30,000 feet altitude, oriented perpendicular to the earth's surface. The pilot noticed no sound, exhaust, or smoke trail. He caught sight of the object because of a glint of light reflecting off it.

Wanting to get a better look, the pilot tried to chase the object. However, overcast clouds covered the area, and the pilot lost sight of it in the cloud layer. The encounter lasted an unknown length of time. Weather conditions at the time included an overcast sky with some scattered clouds down to 1,200 feet.

The Air Force investigation concluded that there was insufficient data to identify what the pilot saw. The original report arrived at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio on June 10, 1949, transmitted from Fort Devens, Massachusetts. Thirteen pages of case documentation, teletype messages, and interview forms are reproduced below as held by the National Archives.