# January 22, 1951 — 50mi SE of Holloman AFB, NM — C-47 Crew Encounter Object near ‘Gopher’ **URL:** https://uapdiscovery.discourse.group/t/january-22-1951-50mi-se-of-holloman-afb-nm-c-47-crew-encounter-object-near-gopher/473 **Category:** Blue Book Unknowns **Created:** [January 22, 2026, 1:16am UTC](https://uapdiscovery.discourse.group/t/january-22-1951-50mi-se-of-holloman-afb-nm-c-47-crew-encounter-object-near-gopher/473 "2026-01-22T01:16:19Z") **Posts on this page:** 1 **Page:** 1
### Author: ![jeffknox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e47c2d/32.png) [@jeffknox](https://uapdiscovery.discourse.group/u/jeffknox) #### Post date: [January 22, 2026, 1:16am UTC](https://uapdiscovery.discourse.group/t/january-22-1951-50mi-se-of-holloman-afb-nm-c-47-crew-encounter-object-near-gopher/473/1 "2026-01-22T01:16:19Z")
![01221951-50miSEofHollomanAFBNM-C47Skytrain](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/uapdiscovery/original/2X/6/614e94ec074a629e52e3c83e9bfecc8b39344c32.jpeg) 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. ![01221951-50miSEofHollomanAFBNM-GopherBalloonTrain](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/uapdiscovery/original/2X/4/41e45a3b1563c085b42a1bdf353e1c2f15abc9cb.jpeg) 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: ![01221951-50miSEofHollomanAFBNM-BBCard](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/uapdiscovery/original/2X/c/c17ec5f82a3d65f4c3fff6618ef7e60e49caaf59.jpeg) Witness Statements: ![01221951-50miSEofHollomanAFBNM-BB-BradleyStatement](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/uapdiscovery/original/2X/3/3963c5f64338489636c0b8e83bf5693c9f81a495.jpeg) ![01221951-50miSEofHollomanAFBNM-BB-CockerStatement](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/uapdiscovery/original/2X/b/b11494f4a215e9fccb16b865e8f80a7d1728ed54.jpeg) Misc Newspaper Articles: ![01221951-50miSEofHollomanAFBNM-BB-Newsclip1](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/uapdiscovery/original/2X/0/0eecc1a5bd31a7b01a1e13069002af3f77ebb3af.jpeg) ![01221951-50miSEofHollomanAFBNM-NewspaperClip](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/uapdiscovery/original/2X/b/b13f78612e221e5867612b223673bb16ea699f80.jpeg) Sources: “A.F. Officers Report Seeing Flying Saucer,” Dayton (Ohio) Daily News, February 15, 1951, p. 7; ![01221951-50miSEofHollomanAFBNM-Dayton_Daily_News_1951_02_15_7](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/uapdiscovery/original/2X/9/91debe5ca2346e35df5831962ef44bf8cd43dc01.jpeg) > **[Article clipped from Dayton Daily News](https://www.newspapers.com/article/dayton-daily-news/160778238/)** > > Clipping found in Dayton Daily News published in Dayton, Ohio on 1951-02-15. “Two Wright Field Officers Sight ‘Strange Object’,” Springfield (Ohio) News-Sun, February 15, 1951, p. 1; ![01221951-50miSEofHollomanAFBNM-Springfield_News_Sun_1951_02_15_1](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/uapdiscovery/original/2X/d/d2ea3a804f157c7485ede0a15f2c7d7f171fc85f.jpeg) > **[Article clipped from Springfield News-Sun](https://www.newspapers.com/article/springfield-news-sun/160778091/)** > > Clipping found in Springfield News-Sun published in Springfield, Ohio on 1951-02-15. “Air Force Officers See ‘Strange Object’ In Sky While Tracking Weather Balloon,” Zanesville (Ohio) Zignal, February 15, 1951, p. 10; ![01221951-50miSEofHollomanAFBNM-The_Zanesville_Signal_1951_02_15_10](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/uapdiscovery/original/2X/b/b27215f08a416ab5fb83eab126352c24bd471c3a.jpeg) > **[Article clipped from The Zanesville Signal](https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-zanesville-signal/160802255/)** > > Clipping found in The Zanesville Signal published in Zanesville, Ohio on 1951-02-15. Brad Sparks, Blue Books Unknowns Catalogue, Case 437, p. 105; ![01221951-50miSEofHollomanAFBNM-Sparks-Case437-p105](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/uapdiscovery/original/2X/f/f51cd18d04b2a956385923c1d0d0100998d90446.png) Loren E. Gross, UFOs, A History: 1951, The Author, 1983, p. 9; ![01221951-50miSEofHollomanAFBNM-Gross-p9](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/uapdiscovery/original/2X/d/d496989c080fb3afe218480ae16d7a9cc965b50b.jpeg) Michael Swords and Robert Powell, UFOs and Government, pp. 114–115; ![01221951-50miSEofHollomanAFBNM-Swords-p114](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/uapdiscovery/original/2X/f/fc15e4d2604557343498a044b0a3abd898faf771.png) ![01221951-50miSEofHollomanAFBNM-Swords-p115](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/uapdiscovery/original/2X/9/90b8966c5ec6758c162b6037d0cc5e34ddbda1be.png) NICAP, “C-47 Crew Encounter Object near ‘Gopher’”; ![01221951-50miSEofHollomanAFBNM-NICAPWebsite](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/uapdiscovery/original/2X/6/6f1c86d90cb39e8ee964702509fb3fc81a4a69c3.jpeg) > **[UFO Report](http://www.nicap.org/510121oakridge_dir.htm)** 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] ![01221951-50miSEofHollomanAFBNM-NICAPWebsite-WhiteObjectPacesBalloon](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/uapdiscovery/original/2X/8/8ae0561ca761c35996c0fadf6221c7e292e88ece.jpeg) > **[UFO Report](http://www.nicap.org/510214alamogordo_dir.htm)** Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles, “Reconnaissance Balloons (WS-119L / WS-461L)”’ > **[WS-119L / WS-461L](https://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/app4/ws-119l.html)** STRATOCAT, STRATOSPHERIC BALLOON BASES IN THE WORLD, “Holloman AFB, NM”; > **[Holloman AFB, Alamogordo - Stratospheric balloon launches](https://stratocat.com.ar/bases/30e.htm)** > > Information provided by StratoCat, a non-profit, educational and informative website created to document the use of Stratospheric Balloons in the fields of science, military and aerospace