January 22, 1951 — 50mi SE of Holloman AFB, NM
11:00 a.m. USAF pilots Capt. Ernest W. Spradley Jr. of Aerial Photo Lab and Capt. James E. Cocker of All-Weather Flying Division (both based at Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio), a General Mills Aeronautical lab project engineer named McAleese, and another airman are flying in a C-47 heading east about 50 miles southeast of Holloman AFB, New Mexico, at about 10,000–12,000 feet, tracking a Project Gopher plastic balloon at about 50,000–70,000 feet, when they see a bright star-like object adjacent to the pear-shaped balloon.
As they approach and fly under the balloon, they notice the object descend to the balloon’s level and grow larger in apparent size until about one-quarter to one-half the size of the 70-foot balloon. It appears to be round and flat like a dime, milky white or silvery in color, with a clear outline. Cocker and McAleese leave the cockpit and go to the astrodome to observe the object. After 3 minutes they see the object separate from the balloon and head west at high speed. After about 1 minute it emits a series of 3 bright photoflashes at one-second intervals and disappears from sight. [Eberhart]
Record Card:
Witness Statements:
Misc Newspaper Articles:
Sources:
“A.F. Officers Report Seeing Flying Saucer,” Dayton (Ohio) Daily News, February 15, 1951, p. 7;
“Two Wright Field Officers Sight ‘Strange Object’,” Springfield (Ohio) News-Sun, February 15, 1951, p. 1;
“Air Force Officers See ‘Strange Object’ In Sky While Tracking Weather Balloon,” Zanesville (Ohio) Zignal, February 15, 1951, p. 10;
Brad Sparks, Blue Books Unknowns Catalogue, Case 437, p. 105;
Loren E. Gross, UFOs, A History: 1951, The Author, 1983, p. 9;
Michael Swords and Robert Powell, UFOs and Government, pp. 114–115;
NICAP, “C-47 Crew Encounter Object near ‘Gopher’”;
NICAP, “White Object Paces Balloon”; [Appears to confuse todays sighting, as having happened again 2/14 because someone at NICAP misread the newspaper article they use as a source]
Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles, “Reconnaissance Balloons (WS-119L / WS-461L)”’
STRATOCAT, STRATOSPHERIC BALLOON BASES IN THE WORLD, “Holloman AFB, NM”;