Group/Category 1 Distant Encounters: Nocturnal Lights & Daylight Discs

Francis Ridge:
According to Captain Edward Ruppelt, the top secret :Estimate of the Situation", which was that the UFOs were interplanetary, listed this very case as one which suggested that conclusion. Actually a series of sightings from the secret Air Force test center at Muroc AFB (now Edwards AFB), in one instance thick projections were observed on top which crossed each other at intervals, suggesting either rotation or oscillation. 

Incident 1
9:45 a.m. (PDT). AAF 1st Lt. Joseph C. McHenry, T/Sgt Joseph Ruvolo, S/Sgt Gerald E. Nauman, and Miss Jannette Marie Scotte at 10:00 a.m., saw two saucer or disc shaped objects, silver and apparently metallic, fly a wide circular pattern [?] at about 7500-8000 ft at 350-400 mph heading 320° (about NW) toward Mojave, Calif. Before the first 2 objects disappeared a 3rd similar disc or spherical silver object reflecting sunlight was seen, with additional 5 witnesses, to the N flying tight circles at about 7,000-8,000 ft beyond capability of known aircraft, maintaining altitude. No sound or trails. 3-4 mins. [See sightings at Muroc later in the day and previous day.]

Incident 2
11:50 a.m.-12 noon. AAF experimental test pilot Capt. John Paul Strapp, Mr. Lenz from Wright Field and 2 others in an observation truck at Area 3 of Rogers Dry Lake for a P-82 ejection seat test saw a round silver or aluminum-white object at first thought to be a parachute, about 25 ft wide, falling from a height below the 20,000 ft of the test aircraft at 3x the rate for an ejection seat test, drifting horizontally toward Mt. Wilson (to the S) at less than 50-80 mph, which when close to horizon appeared to have an oval outline with 2 thick fins or knobs on the upper surface which seemed to rotate or oscillate, no propellers, slowly disappearing below the mountain tops in the distance after 90 secs.