Philadelphia flying object sightings
6 August 1947 · Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Summary
A teletype from the FBI's Philadelphia office to the Director, sent at 9:30 p.m. on 7 August 1947, reported that the Philadelphia Inquirer had carried an item about flying objects seen over the city on the evening of 6 August. The office said that people it interviewed described a bluish-white flaming object at about 10:45 p.m. moving from northeast to southwest, with a trail of smoke that lasted about two seconds. A former Army Air Corps pilot did not think it was a jet because the sound was quieter than a jet's, and he put its speed at 400 to 500 miles per hour. The teletype said Army and Navy intelligence were asked whether either service was doing experimental work on new types of planes near Philadelphia.
The Philadelphia SAC sent a fuller memorandum on 18 September 1947. Eleanor Naddle reported a large white object moving fast to the south between 10:30 and 10:45 p.m., with a buzzing sound and a thin grayish streak of smoke. Cecelia Fine, seated beside her, saw nothing but heard a slight buzzing. John Snyder, an insurance agent and former B-24 pilot, estimated an altitude of 1000 to 3000 feet. John J. Kelly, a retired police officer, described something like a giant firecracker that left a fiery trail for about 100 feet and made no noise. The memo noted that the Snyders and Kellys lived about ten miles from Naddle's home and did not know her, and that the accounts roughly corresponded.
The memo recorded two possible explanations. An Inquirer representative told Naddle and Kelly that the object may have been a product of an oil refinery or chemical company nearby. Naval Intelligence mentioned a fire at the Charles Lennig Chemical Company on 6 August. Army and Navy inquiries about experimental aircraft produced negative results. A company safety officer said the fire was confined to the premises and could not be seen from outside. The SAC wrote that the fire did not seem to fit the pattern of the object's path, and that no further action would be taken unless the Bureau advised otherwise.
A Department of War collection of incident summaries lists the same witnesses as incidents 69, 69a, 70 and 70A. Its note repeats the FBI's remarks on distance and on the roughly matching observations and reliability of the witnesses.
What the files say
“She was facing north and observed a large white object traveling at a very fast rate of speed to the south.”
Page 153 →“SNYDER estimated the above object was between 1000 and 3000 feet in the air and traveling at a rate of between 400 to 500 miles an hour.”
Page 153 →“It left a fiery trail for about 100 feet.”
Page 155 →“Such was done with negative results.”
Page 155 →“All logical investigation having been conducted, no further action”
Page 156 →
Also discussed in
Explanations in the record
What the documents themselves say the event was, as recorded. Not our assessment.
- An Inquirer representative suggested the object may have been a product of an oil refinery or chemical company in the witnesses' neighborhood. — FBI UFO case file section, flying disc records (1947-1968), page 155
- Naval Intelligence mentioned an explosion at the Charles Lennig Chemical Company on 6 August 1947; the company reported a fire on its dump, confined to its premises, and the FBI said it did not seem to fit the object's path. — FBI UFO case file section, flying disc records (1947-1968), page 156