Project Blue Book Case File
Wildwood, N. J., January 1948 - Incident Number: 50January 1948
Summary
# Wildwood, N.J., January 1948 (Incident #50)
On the evening of January 10, 1948, a woman in Wildwood, New Jersey, told the U.S. Air Force she had witnessed an unusual aerial object above the town and nearby ocean. The object appeared to be shaped roughly like a teardrop or an old-fashioned gas lamp, colored yellow, red, or amber. She said it descended slowly toward the earth, then broke apart into two pieces before disappearing from sight. The entire sighting lasted only about five to eight seconds.
The Air Force took the report seriously enough to launch an investigation. Military officials visited Wildwood and interviewed the witness and a friend who had also observed the objects. The witnesses gave conflicting accounts. At first, the main witness said she saw the object for just five to eight seconds, but when questioned more closely, she and her companion changed their story to say the objects remained visible for fifteen to twenty minutes. This discrepancy raised questions among investigators about the reliability of the testimony.
The Air Force's official review of the case proved skeptical. In a written analysis, investigators noted that one of the principal witnesses appeared unbalanced in character. The Coast Guard, which also investigated, found that despite having lookouts stationed at local towers and beaches around the clock, none of their personnel had reported seeing anything unusual. The local police department, which maintained constant patrols, likewise had no record of unusual activity. Multiple interviews with Coast Guard officers, police captains, and businesspeople in town turned up no corroborating reports.
The Air Force's conclusion, stated plainly in the case file, was that the object observed was probably nothing more than a slow-moving fireball, perhaps a meteor. The color, the way it split into two pieces, and the manner in which it vanished all fit that explanation. No physical evidence of any object was recovered.
The full case file, 74 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.
Reported location
Wildwood, N. J., January 1948 - Incident Number: 50
Date of incident
January 1948
State / country
? / XX
Page count
74 scanned pages
USAF evaluation
unknown
Microfilm
T1206, Roll 2