SYLACAUGA, ALABAMANovember 1954

On November 30, 1954, at 1350 (1:50 p.m.), a meteor exploded high in the atmosphere above Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi. One fragment from that explosion fell through the roof of a house in Sylacauga, Alabama, striking and slightly injuring the occupant, Mrs. Hewlett Hodges. The incident became one of the most-publicized UFO reports of that era.

The event triggered an immediate response. An Air Force helicopter recovered the meteorite, which weighed approximately nine pounds, from Mrs. Hodges' home. The object was initially taken to Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama, where it underwent preliminary examination. Scientists at the base, including military personnel and civilian experts, quickly identified the object as a meteorite, most likely of the sulphide variety. A Geiger counter test at Maxwell showed no radioactivity.

The recovery of the meteorite generated considerable controversy. Mrs. Hodges' husband, upset at the Air Force's seizure of the object, retained an attorney to try to recover it. The incident received widespread newspaper coverage across Alabama and beyond, with reporters interviewing Mrs. Hodges, medical personnel, and Air Force officials. Multiple aerial witnesses, including pilots and observers across three states, reported seeing the initial explosion, which they estimated occurred at altitudes between 40,000 and 60,000 feet.

The meteorite was eventually examined by Dr. Frederick K. Morris of the Research Studies Institute at Maxwell. Due to time constraints, Morris could only provisionally identify it as "either a stone meteorite or an earthly peridotite." The object was then transferred to an Air Intelligence Service team and forwarded to the Air Technical Intelligence Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio for more detailed study. The full case file, held by the National Archives, contains 66 pages of investigation reports, interviews, telegrams, photographs, and newspaper clippings documenting the incident.