Fairfield-Suisun control tower sighting
3 December 1948 · Fairfield-Suisun AFB, California
Summary
Control tower personnel at Fairfield-Suisun Air Force Base, California, reported an illuminated object at 2015 Pacific Standard Time on 3 December 1948, according to an Essential Elements of Information form prepared under Project "SIGN". The form placed the tower 50 feet above ground and gave the number of objects as one.
The form named two observers, Joseph Don Delafayette and Pfc Bruce Earlin McFarland. McFarland, a 1901st AACS Squadron tower operator, signed a statement dated 12 January 1949. He wrote that the object first appeared about two miles north of the tower at 500 to 1000 feet, moving at more than 400 miles per hour. He said it slowed to about 200 mph, rose almost vertically to about 3,000 feet, and was then reported by the other operator to climb toward the south-southeast to about 20,000 feet. The form recorded the time in sight as about 25 seconds and the object as a round light 30 inches in diameter. It recorded no sound, no exhaust and no radar contact.
The base intelligence chief, Major Arthur Conradi Jr., sent the report to Military Air Transport Service headquarters on 19 January 1949. The form described both observers as competent, reliable and psychologically stable. It stated that no flying was scheduled or observed nearby. It also stated that a winds-aloft balloon had been released 35 to 45 minutes before the sighting and was lost from view 10 minutes after release. The form did not state a conclusion.
A separate incident summary sheet, numbered 215, recorded the sighting with some different details. It listed observation through 8-power binoculars, an object 1 to 2 feet across, and a starting altitude of 1,000 to 2,000 feet. It repeated the balloon release, and its weather entry gave wind from the west at 5 mph. The summary offered no conclusion either.
Where the files disagree
Two documents give different accounts of the same detail. Both are quoted as written; we don't say which is right.
Size of the object
“Approximately 30 inches diameter.” page 105 →
“8. Size of Object(s): 1 to 2 feet in diameter” page 100 →
Wind speed at the time of the sighting
“wind 10 MPH from the west” page 111 →
“15 miles visibility, wind west at 5 mph” page 100 →
What the files say
“The observer is convinced it was not an aircraft navigation light.”
Page 100 →“Approximately 25 seconds.”
Page 104 →“Looked like a searchlight with the light intensity of a runway light.”
Page 105 →“No radar sightings of the object were made or could be obtained.”
Page 111 →“No flying was scheduled or observed in the vicinity of the Fairfield-Suisun Air Force Base at the time of the observation.”
Page 112 →“All that could be seen was a circular light one to 2 feet in diameter.”
Page 101 →
Explanations in the record
What the documents themselves say the event was, as recorded. Not our assessment.
- The Essential Elements of Information form records that a winds-aloft balloon was released 35 to 45 minutes before the sighting and was lost from view 10 minutes after release. The form does not say the balloon was the object. — Flying disc incident reports, Japan and Pacific (1949), page 112
- Incident summary 215 repeats that a weather balloon was released 45 to 35 minutes before the sighting and was lost ten minutes after release. — UFO incident summaries 173-233, Box index, page 101