Project Blue Book Case File
Utah, April 1949 - Incident Number: 279April 1949
Summary
Several witnesses across northern Utah saw a fiery ball streak across the sky on April 5, 1949, around 1000 (10 a.m.) mountain standard time. The object descended rapidly, leaving trails of bluish-white smoke or vapor behind it. Some observers heard loud explosions during or shortly after the sighting.
The phenomenon was reported by people in Logan, Ogden, Salt Lake City, and smaller towns scattered across a wide area. The witnesses included police officers, airport control tower staff, an airport traffic controller, utility company employees, and ordinary citizens. Descriptions of the object varied. Some said it resembled a fireball or ball of lightning. Others described it as fiery, brilliant, or glowing intensely. One witness called it funnel-shaped. Another reported a triangular shape that changed colors from blue to purple to orange to green. Most witnesses reported the object moving downward at a steep angle. It vanished while still high in the air, leaving behind smoke or vapor trails that remained visible for roughly fifteen minutes. Several people heard sharp explosions. One witness thought the blasts were anti-aircraft fire. Another believed what he saw was a meteor.
The Air Force later determined that three B-29 bomber planes from Castle Air Force Base in California were conducting practice bombing runs on Carrington Island Bombing Range near the Great Salt Lake during the time of the sightings. The bombing range lay within the area where the explosions were reported. The file does not state a final conclusion about whether the sightings were meteors, military ordnance, or something else.
The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, 67 pages.
Reported location
Utah, April 1949 - Incident Number: 279
Date of incident
April 1949
State / country
? / XX
Page count
67 scanned pages
USAF evaluation
unknown
Microfilm
T1206, Roll 4