Wilmington, Ohio Clinton County Air Base sighting

A set of Air Force incident forms records a sighting from the Clinton County Air Base at Wilmington, Ohio, on 7 January 1948. The master checklist, Incident 48, gave the time as between 7:20 and 7:55 P.M. It listed one object, in sight for 35 minutes, red and cone-shaped, trailing a "gaseous green mist" (checklist, incident 48). The summary described it hanging in the air at intervals and gaining and losing altitude at bursts of speed, with its light piercing a heavy layer of clouds (incident 48 summary).

Four individual forms followed. T/Sgt LeRoy Ziegler (48a) gave the time as 1925 and described a starlike object, very large, that made vertical ascents and descents and left toward the southwest at about 20:00. He judged it too high to be a light from the ground (incident 48a). Corporal James H. Hudson (48b) put the object 15 to 20 miles away and described it as a cone or upside-down triangle. He said it was not a balloon, comet, star or known aircraft (incident 48b).

S/Sgt John P. Haag (48c) said the light resembled the complete wing of an aircraft on fire. After viewing it through field glasses, he decided it was not a comet or falling star. He placed it about 5 miles away at 15,000 to 20,000 feet (incident 48c). Ralph L. Stirr (48d) thought it was a flare or an aircraft in trouble. He said it moved like a parachute flare riding on thermals and left no trail like a meteor or comet (incident 48d). The master summary carried a note referring to an unnamed comet due in the northern hemisphere about 1 January (note).

The Project Sign progress report of 23 April 1948 listed incidents 48 to 48d with one object each, observed from the ground (tabulation). It recorded the observer for 48 as a Major, USAF, and the maneuvers as ascending and descending (observer table). It gave 48c's altitude as 15000-20000 and 48d's heading as approximately due west (heading table).