October 7, 1958 — Alexandria, VA
6:02 p.m. Chemist John R. Townsend, special assistant for research and engineering to the Assistant Secretary of Defense, sees a large, stationary, sharply outlined Saturn-shaped silvery object (with a “gossamer” surface appearance and a rim or girdle around its equator) in a clear sky in Alexandria, Virginia. It rapidly rises at an estimated speed of 1,000 mph and disappears to the south after 40 seconds. At one point a passing Capitol Airlines Flight 407 flies directly between his line of sight and the UFO at 2 miles distance, allowing him to estimate the UFO’s size as about 500 feet. Townsend reenacts the timing by walking the half block down Lee Street to get a better feeling for its distance and size. [Eberhart]
Record card:
ATIC Report:
Townsend Report:
LeBailly to Townsend Memo:
Sources:
Brad Sparks, Blue Books Unknowns Catalogue, Case 1347, p. 267;
Loren E. Gross, The Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse: UFOs, a History: 1958 October, The Author, 1999, pp. 21-24,26;
Michael Swords and Robert Powell, UFOs and Government, p. 282;
NICAP, “Saturn-Shaped Object Observed, Object Confirmed by Pilot”;