Analysis of Flying Object Incidents in the United States, 1948

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a. On 1 July 1947, a GCA radar at Hokkaido, Japan picked up an unidentified target at 16 miles, with a speed in excess of 800 mph. This target split into two targets, each estimated to be larger than a P-51.

b. On 16 September 1947, an MBW radar at Fukuoka, Japan, picked up a target at 89 miles and trailed it to 19 miles, where it faded. Speed was 840-900 mph. The speed measurement, made by a good crew through a 70-mile track, is believed accurate.

4. Investigations conducted by Headquarters, Air Materiel Command, have definitely established the identification of 18 of approximately 210 so-called flying saucers which have been reported. Approximately nine per cent of the total number of incidents are, therefore, eliminated from further specific consideration. Among those incidents positively explained, three were hoaxes, two were from unreliable witnesses. In the remaining 13 eliminated incidents, objects were actually seen but investigation has shown that they were celestial bodies or phenomena, meteorological and carnival balloons, and airborne cosmic ray experimental equipment. The following examples are presented for comparison of the information reported by witnesses and true identification of the object involved:

a. On 22 July 1948, Captain Henry Glover (Ordnance Reserve) and his wife observed at Van Nuye, California, an object which they were unable to positively identify. Object at first appeared to be round and looked like a weather balloon at about 2,000 feet but there was no characteristic bobbing. The wind was blowing on the ground but the object was quite steady. During the time it was under observation, about an hour, it traveled through a vertical arc of about twenty-five (25°) degrees or more. The observer concluded that it was not a celestial body. It had a bluish luminescence and as the sun set, the object's color gradually changed to orange at dusk and ceased to be illuminated

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