May 29, 1950 — nr. Mount Vernon, VA
9:20 p.m. Capt. Willis T. Sperry, copilot Bill Gates, flight engineer Robert Arnholt, a stewardess, and several passengers on an American Airlines DC-6 airliner headed southwest out of Washington, D.C., en route to Nashville, Tennessee, are flying at 7,500 feet at 250 mph. About 7 miles west of Mount Vernon, Virginia, Gates alerts Sperry to a bright blue or bluish light ahead of them and increasing in size. Sperry makes an evasive 45° turn to the right and the object passes from 11 o’clock to 7 o’clock position to the left at a slightly higher altitude. The light very briefly passes between the aircraft and the upper part of the moon, revealing an object with a long silhouette (somewhat reminiscent of a submarine) without visible wings or empennage. The blue light is on the front of the object. Sperry turns left back onto his original course to get the object back in view, but it apparently stays stationary for about 30 seconds. Gates then notices the object circling around to the right side. Sperry banks right again, while the object paces the airliner about 20–30 seconds before it climbs to the east at a 30° angle at “fantastic” speed and disappears. [Eberhart]
CIRVIS Report:
Final Report Preview of U.F.O. (1956) Film:
Sources:
“New Type of Saucer Is Reported —Like A Submarine With Lights,” Asheville (N.C.) Times, May 30, 1950, p.16;
“Saucer Like Sub Reported By Pilot,” The Buffalo (N.Y.) News, May 31, 1950, p.64;
“Airliner Pilot Reports New Type Of Flying Saucer,” The Sacramento (Calif.) Bee, May 31, 1950, p.31;
“Strange Craft Seen by Pilot Near Capital,” Fort Worth (Tex.) Star-Telegram, June 01, 1950, p.8;
Donald E. Keyhoe, “Flight 117 and the Flying Saucer,” True, August 1950, pp. 78–79;
“The Mail Box,” Flying (Magazine),September 1950, p.64;
Loren E. Gross, UFOs, a History: Volume 6, April–July 1950, The Author, 1990, pp. 51–53;
Loren E. Gross, The Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse: UFOs, A History: 1950, April–July, Supplemental Notes, The Author, 2000, pp. 52-54;
Brad Sparks, Blue Books Unknown Catalogue, Case 376, p. 91;
Edward Ruppelt, The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects, pp. 85-86;
Interview with Captain Sperry by W.B Klemperer, February 4, 1955;
Sperry letter to Robert Barrow (1976);
Wikipedia, “Sperry UFO Case”;
NICAP, “Capt. Willis Sperry Sighting”;
Project 1947, “UFO Reports 1950”;
Captain Willis T. Sperry - Sign Oral History Project
Capt. Sperry in the film Unidentified Flying Objects: The True Story of Flying Saucers (1956) being interviewed about his sighting:
“American Airlines CE-II Case of 5-29-1950 – Capt. Willis Sperry,” Ufology: A Primer in Audio, 1938–1959, November 21, 2013;