September 1949 — three cases: the Madeira, Ohio searchlight sighting; the Reno, Nevada disc; and a Sandia Base green fireball.
1949: September UFO|UAP & Entity Sightings Archive
September 1949 continues the recurring Ohio searchlight pattern — the same operator, Sgt. Donald R. Berger, caught similar glowing objects over Madeira and Milford this month, now covered together with August’s Norwood sighting in a combined standalone report. The month also carries a strong run of Sandia and Los Alamos green fireball reports and scattered daylight disc sightings from Nevada to Switzerland.
Date: Fall 1949
Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma
Time: ?
Summary: Don Bushnell, plant superintendent with Southwestern Porcelain Steel Corp., saw an object fall in front of his car as his radio was blocked by interference. He applied the brakes and the object vanished. This appears to be the same case as the September, 1949 “Tulsa, New Mexico” entry below, which shares the same witness name; that entry’s state has been corrected accordingly.
Source: Magonia 71; Keyhoe
Date: September 1949
Location: New Mexico
Time: ?
Summary: Five objects were tracked by radar at tremendous speed and altitude near a key atomic base, observed by military witnesses for over three minutes.
Source: Hall, Richard H. The UFO Evidence, NICAP, Washington, 1964
Date: September 1949
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
Time: Daytime
Summary: An engineering student and friends, typically around age 20, saw a silver disc at high altitude, looking like a dime in the sky, for over one minute (Hood, M). The object moved against the wind.
Source: Sullivan, Edward. CSI/LA investigation files
Date: September 1949
Location: Suzdal, Vladimir, Russia
Time: 22:00
Summary: An object was sighted with an appearance and performance beyond the capability of known earthly aircraft. Observed by five witnesses on a farm.
Source: Zigel, Felix. Unpublished manuscript
Date: September 1949
Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma
Time: Night
Summary: An object was sighted with an appearance and performance beyond the capability of known earthly aircraft. Observed by two witnesses (Bushnell). Same witness (Bushnell) and city as the Fall 1949 entry above; location corrected from “New Mexico” to Oklahoma, since Tulsa is in Oklahoma.
Source: Data-Net Report
Date: September 1949
Location: Montgomery, Alabama
Time: 13:30
Summary: One object was observed by one witness for over four minutes (White).
Source: NICAP
Date: September 5, 1949
Location: Reno, Nevada
Time: 2:00 p.m. (MST)
Summary: S/Sgt. Willie L. Cole, USAF, 23rd Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron, Mountain Home AFB, along with his wife and another woman, saw a perfectly round, silver object with curved sides and a smoothly rounded edge, about the size of a P-38’s wingspan. At 3,000-5,000 ft altitude, it flew perfectly straight and level due west at 500-600 mph for about two minutes, with no sound, smoke, contrails, or exhaust.
Source: Blue Book Archives, Ridge
Date: September 5, 1949, BBU
Location: Lebec, California
Time: 12:10 p.m.
Summary: Two USAF pilots flying with the 3538th Maintenance Squadron saw an oval object climb south at tremendous speed.
Source: Project 1947
Date: September 6, 1949
Location: Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland
Time: 10:12
Summary: A military flight instructor (Eggenberger) at an airfield watched a metallic disc at about 2 km altitude fly southeast at roughly 1,200 kph.
Source: Vallee, Jacques
Date: September 1949
Location: Radkersburg, Austria
Time: Dusk
Summary: Two flying discs were observed near a mountain for over one minute, reportedly seen near the Yugoslav border; a police report was filed.
Source: Doubt Magazine
Date: September 9 (or 10), 1949, BBU
Location: Goose Bay, Labrador, Canada
Time: 9:56 p.m. (AST)
Summary: A military aircraft pilot saw an egg-shaped object disappear into a cloud at high speed.
Source: Project 1947; FUFOR Index
Date: September 11, 1949
Location: Madeira, Ohio
Time: 19:15, lasting over an hour
Summary: A few thousand people watched a spherical object, estimated at 17,000 ft altitude, caught in a ground searchlight’s beam; the object appeared to climb higher to avoid the light. Part of a recurring pattern involving the same searchlight and operator (Sgt. Donald R. Berger) across three Ohio towns this year. [Full Report]
Source: Doubt Magazine
Date: September 14, 1949
Location: Scottsbluff, Nebraska
Time: 16:30
Summary: One object was observed by one witness (Chapman).
Source: Project Bluebook
Date: September 15, 1949
Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Time: 00:25
Summary: One observer of unknown reliability saw a round, yellow-red object about the size of a baseball, 30° above the horizon, before it burst and appeared to disintegrate. Duration six seconds.
Source: AFOSI
Date: September 16, 1949
Location: Los Alamos, New Mexico
Time: 02:30
Summary: One observer, rated reliable, saw an orange, ball-shaped object at 3,000 ft, moving horizontally west to east, larger than a falling star and faster than an airplane but slower than a falling star, before dimming and disappearing. Duration 15 seconds.
Source: AFOSI
Date: September 18, 1949
Location: Milford, Ohio
Time: 19:00, lasting over an hour
Summary: A military witness (Berger) caught a white orb in a searchlight for about an hour; it never moved during the observation. Part of the same recurring Ohio searchlight pattern as the Madeira and Norwood, Ohio sightings. [Full Report]
Source: Wilkins, Harold T. Flying Saucers on the Attack, Ace Star A-11, New York, 1967
Date: September 18, 1949
Location: Sandia, New Mexico
Time: 20:15
Summary: One observer of unknown reliability saw a dark yellow, round object, about the size of a baseball, 45° above the horizon, moving west to south. Duration 3-4 seconds; its disappearance was not recorded.
Source: AFOSI
Date: September 20, 1949
Location: Rome, New York
Time: 09:06, for over 60 minutes
Summary: A silvery, cylindrical object with orange-white exhaust was seen by an independent witness, a pilot.
Source: Project Bluebook
Date: September 20, 1949
Location: Las Cruces, New Mexico
Time: 23:00
Summary: A procession of eight objects was observed for a few seconds; physiological effects were noted.
Source: Vallee, Jacques
Date: September 25, 1949
Location: Lubeck, West Virginia
Time: 14:45
Summary: A yellow, rocket-shaped object with apparent fins flew within 100 ft under an airplane four miles southwest of Parkersburg, West Virginia. Duration six seconds.
Source: MUFON
Date: September 26, 1949
Location: Winchendon, Massachusetts
Time: ?
Summary: A cigar-shaped object emitting a cloud of smoke flew slowly from the northwest to the southeast over the town, then disappeared. Duration 15 minutes; reported by two witnesses (Peckham and Clements).
Source: Project Bluebook
Date: September 26, 1949
Location: Fairmont, West Virginia
Time: Daytime
Summary: One object was observed.
Source: Doubt Magazine
Date: September 26, 1949
Location: Lexington, Nebraska
Time: 18:40
Summary: Southeast of Lexington, three ovoid objects about four meters across flew toward the northeast; two left trails of sparks. Five witnesses, reported by Wolfe.
Source: Project Bluebook
Date: September 27, 1949
Location: Sandia, New Mexico
Time: 01:30
Summary: One observer of unknown reliability saw a dark blue, conical object with a tail twice its own diameter, moving south to north at 20° above the horizon, making a gentle arc toward the earth before burning out. Duration two seconds; described as resembling a skyrocket.
Source: AFOSI
Date: September 30, 1949
Location: Sandia, New Mexico
Time: 22:57
Summary: One observer of unknown reliability saw a yellow-orange object, slightly larger than a shooting star, moving south to west at 55° above the horizon at roughly 200 mph (the source’s own speed figure is internally inconsistent and left as given). Duration 2-3 seconds.
Source: AFOSI
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
A Recurring Searchlight, and a Duplicate Untangled
This month’s Madeira and Milford, Ohio searchlight sightings are now linked to a new combined standalone report covering all three known incidents involving the same operator, Sgt. Donald R. Berger — Norwood (August), Madeira, and Milford (both September). A duplicate entry (Don Bushnell’s Tulsa sighting) had the wrong state given in one of its two versions; “Tulsa, New Mexico” is corrected to Tulsa, Oklahoma, matching the Fall 1949 entry describing the same witness and city. Two source citations (“Magnolia 71; Keyhole”) were corrected to “Magonia 71; Keyhoe,” matching this archive’s established spelling for both. Several raw catalog metadata entries were rewritten as prose without losing data.
“The object seemed to rise to a higher altitude to avoid the beam.”
Doubt Magazine, describing the September 11, 1949 Madeira, Ohio searchlight sighting.
