Ashley and Delaware, Ohio sightings
8 April 1948 · Ashley and Delaware, Ohio
Summary
Two compilations of Air Force incident summaries record sightings on 8 April 1948 in Ashley and Delaware, Ohio. Both carry the same check-lists. Incident 112 lists Miss Winifred Paines, an assistant bank cashier, and Mrs. Bertha Slack, a housekeeper, who watched one object from Ashley between 1400 and 1430 (doc 04fbf9d797be66d8, p. 35). They described a silver, long and narrow object moving slowly southwest, and one thought she heard a low-flying plane (remarks).
Incident 112a was a report from Mrs. Melah Stephens, a newspaper reporter in Ashley. She saw a large airplane heading south and an object she first took for sky writing, which later looked like a stick of firewood and appeared opalescent in the sun (doc 04fbf9d797be66d8, p. 37). The record adds that the object may have been drifting with the wind.
Four Delaware reports followed. Mrs. James B. Stephenson saw a white cylindrical object with vapor around the top at 1430 (112b). Rev. James B. Stephenson first thought it was a plane on fire, and the Delaware airport was alerted but did not see it after half an hour (112c). Mrs. John Bergen described a spherical white blob with streaks above it (112d). The summary says it did not look like a balloon and that Perkins Observatory was alerted but could not sight it (doc 04fbf9d797be66d8, p. 43).
Rev. John H. Bergen reported a spherical white object in view for ten minutes at 1130, estimated at several thousand feet (112e). Mrs. H. S. Kirkpatrick also gave 1130 and described a white sphere with a protruding end underneath (112f). Her son Robert Cochran said it was shaped like a rainspout (p. 48). The second compilation repeats these entries (doc 8a9bc4d91d8c954c). Neither gives a conclusion about what the object was.
What the files say
“It was clearly outlined and moving slowly and steadily in a southwesterly direction parallel to the ground and without changing direction.”
Page 36 →“It may have been drifting with the wind.”
Page 38 →“The Delaware airport was alerted for its appearance, but after a half hour it had not been sighted there.”
Page 41 →“The Perkins Observatory was alerted but was unable to sight the object.”
Page 43 →“He said it was in the shape of a rainspout.”
Page 48 →
Also discussed in
Explanations in the record
What the documents themselves say the event was, as recorded. Not our assessment.
- Mrs. Stephens's summary says the object may have been drifting with the wind. — UFO incident summaries 101-172, Box index, page 38
- Mrs. Bergen's report says the object did not look like a balloon. — UFO incident summaries 101-172, Box index, page 43
- Rev. Stephenson first thought the object was a plane on fire, then saw a vapor-covered cylinder that looked like a white cloud but did not behave as one. — UFO incident summaries 101-172, Box index, page 41