Walnut, Miss., April 1952April 1952

On the morning of April 7, 1952, two separate sightings of unusual objects were reported in Mississippi and Tennessee, both occurring near daybreak.

The first incident took place near Walnut, Mississippi, when a civilian and his daughter, driving northwest on Highway 72, spotted a bright greenish object in the sky. The witnesses described it as having the brilliance of a large arc light, far brighter than aircraft beacons they could see nearby. The object appeared solid and smaller than the full moon, yet they thought it might be a meteor about to crash. They stopped their car and cut the engine to observe it, but the object soon disappeared behind pine trees. It made no sound and left no trail or exhaust. An investigator noted the witnesses appeared reliable, with unquestionable credibility, and that the daughter was employed by a U.S. Commissioner in Memphis.

The second sighting occurred around 0445 hours (4:45 a.m.) west of the Parkview Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. A 38-year-old woman claimed to have seen an unconventional flying object traveling northwest over the city at great speed. She described it as shaped like a cotton bucket with a blue-white brilliance and a reddish glow near the top. She estimated it was larger than a full moon and higher than typical aircraft, perhaps at 1,000 to 1,500 feet altitude. The object made no sound and left no exhaust or vapor trail. The investigator found her reliable and rational, though she had read recent publicity about UFO sightings.

Air Force investigators noted that a "fireball" report from Macon, Missouri, roughly 350 airline miles northwest of Memphis, was released by the International News Service on the same date. Considering the positions of all three sightings, they suggested the objects could possibly have been the same phenomenon observed at different locations. The Air Force's evaluation of the cases concluded they were probably balloons, though one case remained marked as unknown.

The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives across 11 pages of documents.