 Category 11 Case Directory SIGHTINGS FROM AIRCRAFT Preliminary Rating: 5 |
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| AVCAT is a special project being conducted
by NICAP, with the help and cooperation of the original compiler of
AIRCAT, Dr. Richard Haines, and other sources, to create a
comprehensive listing of sightings from aircraft with detailed
documentation from these sources, including Projects SIGN, GRUDGE &
BLUE BOOK. |
Pilot
Encounters 5-8 Egg-Shaped Metallic Objects
May 27, 1949
Hart Mountain, Oregon
May 27, 1949
Hart Mountain, Oregon
| 2:21 p.m. PST Duration 5 mins SNJ Navy aircraft United States |
Military 1 observer No EMI No radar contact |
| Brad Sparks: May 27, 1949; Near Hart Mtn., south-central Oregon (BBU 404) 2:25 p.m. (PST). Oil company vice-president, USNR pilot, former AAF flight instructor, Joseph C. Shell, flew his lightened-load SNJ Navy aircraft from Red Bluff, Calif, to Burns, Oregon, heading NNE at 212 mph ground speed at 9,000 ft above MSL (about 4,000 to 5,000 ft above ground level), saw to his right (about NE) something metallic in the distance [about 20 miles away] at about 42° 38' N, 119° 43' W, which as he approached resolved into 5-8, most likely 6-7, oval or egg-shaped metallic objects, 2:1 length/width ratio, and 1/5 as thick, each the same size less than 20 ft in diameter, fly in trail formation, with an interval equal to 3-4x their length between the lead object and the 2nd object, and only 1/2 to 2/3 object length spacing between the 2nd and all remaining objects, which separation remained constant almost as if being towed by the lead object. He saw the objects "outlined"� against the bluffs of Hart Mtn, and could see the dark ground between each object, and noticed they had slightly changed course from a "quartering"� path to a path parallel to his course in the opposite direction (heading SSW) at about 230 ±30-40 mph while following the rim of the bluffs (which rim was about 7,000 ft MSL), appeared to be about 1,000 to 1,500 ft below his altitude about 5-1/2 to 7-1/2 miles away at closest approach (to his ESE), but less than the 10-mile distance to the bluffs. Near end of sighting Shell dropped in altitude and then could see the objects at his flight level, at his estimated position 42° 41' N, 119° 49' W, hence his estimate of objects' altitude as about 1,000-1,500 ft below his original 9,000 ft MSL. Objects disappeared on the horizon out of visual range, at estimated position 42° 28' N, 119° 48' W. Visibility being >60 miles. (Sparks; Berliner; Jan Aldrich; Footnote.com images 6313041 ff.) 5 mins 1 witness 1/30 ? Full Moon Detailed reports and documents reports/490527hartmtn_report.htm (Dan Wilson) |