Project Blue Book documents on the Killian case, compiled by Dan Wilson

Read from the scan by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word.

commercially - a total of about twenty-eight years. It couldn't have been an apparition because all the others on the plane saw them too. At times these objects emitted a whitish light of blinding brilliance. Then it was like trying to see a dime behind a powerful electric light bulb.

"I had 35 passengers. After I first noticed the objects, I drew this to the attention of my co-pilot, John Dee, and to our flight engineer. We three sat there. The two stewardesses came up, and the five of us actually sat there and watched them for quite awhile. In the meantime, I was mulling over in the back of my mind whether I should tell it to the passengers, and I finally decided to. Before I did, I also told them I had only a cup of hot tea to drink and also that there were no lightning bugs in the cockpit. I said, 'Ladies and gentlemen, American Airlines has a special treat for you tonight. If you'll look out the windows on the left side, you'll get a look at our little surprise. They aren't stars and no airplanes have colors like that. Make up your own minds what they are.'

"Everybody took it very well. As a matter of fact, it was most enjoyable to them. There was only one passenger who was slightly apprehensive. I told him if there were any danger I am sure they would have done something long ago. Several passengers wanted me to go over closer, but I had to consider their safety, even if regulations had permitted this I obviously did not have enough speed to catch up with the objects, and I thought discretion was the better part of valor and remained on course. To enable the passengers to have better view, the stewardesses, Edna LeGate and Beverly Pingree, turned out the cabin lights and everyone watched the spectacle for the next 35 minutes.

"I suppose I'm no different than all the rest of average American individuals regarding Unidentified Flying Objects. We read about it and we wonder if the person who has sighted such objects has been sober or sane or telling the truth. Generally, though, you have another feeling like you can't discount them entirely, and that was generally my feeling. I thought - well, there must be something to it, but what, I was never sure. These things that I saw, did they belong to the Air Force? I'd like to say an airplane always has white lights. One is a flaming light which shines straight forward, and the other is a white tail-light, which you can only see if you are to the rear. So, in either case, if it were either the landing light or the tail-light, if it were really an aircraft, it would be either flying toward me or away from me, and in no event could they stay there for 30 or 40 minutes. That would in itself refute the idea of its being an aircraft.

"Their uneven speed and unusual external brilliance proves they were a type of aircraft which is totally unfamiliar to us. Their motion also was unlike an airplane. Occasionally one of them would zoom straight ahead of me. Then it would drop back into position off my wing, apparently lagging as if to let me catch up. The airplane was flying a constant cours and these movements were easily observed. Occasionally, however, the rear fellow would lag behind. He would be almost double the distance between the other two. I considered th possibility that the lights were trying to signal, but I could not discern any pattern in the light changes.

"I had considered the possibility that the lights came from jet refueling operations and suggested as much upon landing when I was interviewed by the Detroit Times. I had discarded the idea, however, for several reasons. At my then cruising speed of 280 to 300 miles per hour, I was going too slow for jets to stay off my left wing for a long time. The other factors were the changing position of the lights and their varying intensity. In addition, First Officer John Dee, after landing, had also considered the possibility of a jet refueling operation but had made a check and there had been no such flights. I also notified other planes in the vicinity. When I was over Erie, Pennsylvania I called on my company frequency and asked if there were any other planes in the vicinity, and there were two.