Documents / Report
This declassified U.S. Air Force compilation of unidentified flying object incidents 101 to 172 contains check-list reports from 1948 and 1945. Incident 101 covers the 18 February 1948 sky explosion over Norcatur, Kansas, with letters from Norman G. Markham suggesting a lunar spacecraft, Dr. Lincoln LaPaz's reply judging it a genuine meteorite fall, and witness statements. The final incident, 172, records George F. Gorman's 27 minute F-51 pursuit of a white light over Fargo on 1 October 1948, corroborated by tower controllers and Dr. Cannon.
From the source: Release of 2026-06-12 Includes a "Check-List - Unidentified Flying Objects" that contains details about the incident. Many summaries also include witness lists or statements and other narrative reports or descriptions.
Read from the scan by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word.
A huge multi-colored ball of fire trailing a dense cloud of smoke was sighted at approx 1500 hours MST 18 Feb 48, 39° N-100° W at approx 20,000 by two B-29 aircraft of the 28th Bombardment Group (VH). It was seen some 100 miles southeast of the B-29s. Size was estimated as huge altho impossible to determine accurately due to the distance. It was traveling at very high speed and heading southeast of Limon Colorado, at approx 20,000 ft. Witnesses: Capt Howard H. Berodt, AO-49504, 718th Bomb Sq 28th Bomb Gp (VH). Pilot of 1st B-29 Capt Maurice T. Ritenour, AO-48043, 718th Bomb Sq 28 Bomb Gp (VH). Co-Pilot of 1st B-29. 1st Lt Leonard P. Marchese, AO-748714, 77th Bomb Sq., 28th Bomb Gp (WH). Pilot of 2nd B-29 1st Lt. Carl W. Stucki, AO-785916, 77th Bomb Sq. 28th Bomb Gp (VH). Co-Pilot of 2nd B-29. NOTE: See Incident 101 - Norcatur Kansas.
Report, from the pursue collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. The text was read from the page images by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word. 210 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.