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This Project Blue Book case file, digitized by the Internet Archive, covers Incident 144: two Eastern Airlines pilots reported that a wingless, cigar-shaped object with a flaming exhaust passed their DC-3 about 20 miles southwest of Montgomery, Alabama, on 24 July 1948. The file includes an OSI interview with a Robins Air Force Base employee who saw a similar object, negative aircraft traffic reports from many bases, and later correspondence. A December 1948 intelligence report found fairly consistent descriptions across four related sightings.
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# INCIDENT 24 July 1948 At 2:45 in the morning, the pilot and co-pilot of an Eastern Airlines DC-3, flying at 5000 feet between Mobile and Montgomery, sighted a dull red exhaust some 700 feet ahead, a little above and to the right of the airliner. Captain S, the pilot, immediately turned to his co-pilot, Jordi, and remarked: "Look, here comes a new Army jet job." The object approached in a slight dive, deflected a little to the left and passed the plane on the right, almost level and parallel to the flight path, at a distance of approxi- mately one-half mile. After passing, it pulled up sharply and disappeared into a cloud. The object appeared to be a wingless aircraft, 100 feet long, cigar shaped and about twice the diameter of a "B-29." It had no fins or protruding surfaces. It thought it had a "snout" similar to a radar pole on the front and he had the impression there was a cabin with windows above--much like a pilot compartment--except that it appeared brighter. The illumination inside the body itself approximated the brilliance of a magnesium flare. He saw no occupants nor did Whitted. Visible from the side only, was an intense, fairly dark, blue glow running the entire length of the object beneath the fuselage. The glow reminded of a blue fluorescent factory light. The exhaust was described as a red-orange flame, the lighter color (orange) being predominant about the outer edges. He thought the flame flared out from a nozzle in the rear which he thought he perceived. The flame extended some 30 to 50 feet behind the object and became deeper in intensity (redder) and increased in length as the object pulled up into a cloud. No disturbance was felt from air waves, nor was there any wash or mechanical disturbance when the object passed. No sound was heard. Co-pilot attention was drawn to the object by remark. His description of the object and its maneuvers was very similar to that of except that he did not observe a cockpit in front nor did he see any radar "snout." His drawing and description also indicated windows or openings on the side. He estimated the object passed at greater distance than did. He saw the "exhaust" as a parallal wide flame which approached from any native rear of the object rather than from a nozzle ever providing any wider than the width of the object itself, although he noticed the increased length of the flame as the object " pulled up." The night was clear with a bright moon and broken cloud cover one of 4/10 at 6000 feet. Both estimated the object to be in sight approximately 10-15 seconds. This case was evaluated as an obvious "fireball" but was carried as identified for a time in the Air Force Filos. The initial evaluation was made in 1948 by Dr. J. Allen Hynek. Current analysis of the data substantiates Dr. Hynek's conclusion and the case is evaluated as a meteor sighting.
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