THINK ABOUTIT UFO|UAP SIGHTINGS REPORT

1950: Marrowbone Lake, Tennessee UFO, (Blue Book 682)

At about seven on the morning of March 29, 1950, two Nashville real estate salesmen fishing on Marrowbone Lake heard a noise like wind blowing through the trees. Between six and twelve dark, round objects, each about five feet long and “like a 300 lb bomb,” came in low, 200 to 300 feet up, through a gap in the hills at the lake’s southeast end, turned together, circled behind the hills on the west side and lost altitude steadily as they went. One of the men said they were splitting the air right above his head, and that they were traveling at least 500 miles an hour.

The fishermen told the lake superintendent, who said they were scared. The Marrowbone Lake, Tennessee bomb-shaped objects story made the Nashville papers, Army Counter Intelligence Corps agents wrote it up, the Third Army forwarded it to Air Materiel Command, and Sewart AFB told reporters the objects could not have been jet planes. Project Blue Book’s card reads UNIDENTIFIED.

Date: March 29, 1950

Sighting Time: About 7:00 a.m. CST (0700 hours)

Day/Night: Day

Location: Marrowbone Lake, Tennessee, about 18 miles from Nashville on Highway 41-A toward Clarksville, USA

Urban or Rural: Rural

No. of Entity’s: Not Applicable

Entity Type: Not Applicable

Entity Description: Not Applicable

Hynek Classification: DD (Daylight Disc)

Duration: Seconds; the objects passed overhead and circled behind the hills; the card leaves duration blank

No. of Object(s): 6 to 12

Description of the Object(s): Dark, black, round, heavy-looking objects about five feet long that looked like 300-pound bombs; no motors visible; they made a noise like wind blowing through trees

Shape/Size/Color of Object(s): Round (card) or bomb-shaped (summary), about 5 feet long, black or dark, heavy in appearance

Distance to Object(s): Directly overhead at 200 to 300 feet

Height & Speed: 200 to 300 feet, losing altitude steadily; at least 500 mph; they came in from the southeast and turned together to the west

Number of Witnesses: 2 (D. C. Whiteside and Howard T. Williams, Nashville real estate salesmen, named in the newspaper clipping; the Army summary blacks out the names)

Special Features/Characteristics: Low-altitude passage directly overhead; objects turned together as a group; wind-through-trees noise; Sewart AFB spokesmen said the description did not fit jet aircraft; Army Counter Intelligence Corps summary rated F-6; OSI at Sewart AFB had done nothing on it the next day

Case Status: Unexplained. Project Blue Book’s record card carries the handwritten conclusion UNIDENTIFIED (NICAP: BBU 682).

Source: Third Army (Fort McPherson) G-2 transmittal to Air Materiel Command, 3 April 1950 (Control No. A-1917), enclosing the CIC Field Area Office No. 2 (Nashville) Summary of Information dated 30 March 1950 and a newspaper clipping (“2 Marrowbone Fishermen See ‘Saucers’ Fly By”); Project Blue Book (Project 10073) record card; Berliner

Summary/Description: Two Nashville real estate salesmen fishing on Marrowbone Lake saw six to twelve dark, round, bomb-like objects about five feet long fly low overhead at 200 to 300 feet and at least 500 mph at about 7:00 a.m. on March 29, 1950. They made a noise like wind in trees, turned together and circled behind hills on the west side. Sewart AFB said they could not have been jets, and Blue Book’s card concludes UNIDENTIFIED.

Detailed Report

The Lake

According to the Army’s summary, the observers, two Nashville real estate salesmen, were fishing on Marrowbone Lake, about 18 miles from Nashville on Highway 41-A in the direction of Clarksville. Between six and twelve dark objects at 200 to 300 feet flew into the opening above the lake through a break in the hills at the southeast end and circled behind the hills on the west side, losing altitude steadily the whole time. The objects were black, round, heavy in appearance, about five feet long, looked like a 300-pound bomb and made a noise like wind blowing through the trees. No motors were visible. They were fairly close together, turned together and traveled at least 500 miles an hour.

The Newspaper

The newspaper story, headlined “2 Marrowbone Fishermen See ‘Saucers’ Fly By” with “Noise, Speed Cause Scare,” names the men as D. C. Whiteside and Howard T. Williams. Whiteside said he heard them first and that the noise was like wind blowing through the trees. Williams said he was baiting his hook and that when he looked up they were splitting the air open right above his head, 200 to 300 feet up and traveling at least 500 miles an hour, black, round and heavy. Both said they appeared from the southeast. Whiteside said they had no motor but were traveling faster than any airplane he ever saw, and Williams said that if he had been alone he would have thought he was seeing things. The fishermen left the lake at once and reported their experience to the lake superintendent, James W. Davis, who said they were scared and that one told him it made his hair stand on end.

The Official Reaction

A Sewart AFB spokesman told the paper the objects could not have been jet-propelled planes, because jets are larger than the objects described. A Civil Aeronautics Administration communicator said most jets over Nashville fly very high, and added that the Air Force had been trying to disprove saucer reports but was “keeping their fingers crossed.” The Army’s Nashville Counter Intelligence Corps office rated the source F-6, meaning its reliability was unknown and the truth of the information could not be judged. The CIC contacted the OSI at Sewart AFB at noon on March 30 and found it had accomplished nothing on the incident. The Third Army’s G-2 forwarded the summary on April 3 with a cover letter that has a faint handwritten note at the lower left, partly legible as “Skyhook” followed by letters that might read “plastic bags.”

The Card

The Project 10073 card gives the date of information as March 29, the report date as March 30, the time as 0700 CST, the source as two civilians, the color as dark, the shape as round, the size as five feet long, the speed as 500 mph, the altitude as 200 to 300 feet, the number as six to twelve, the sound as wind blowing through trees, and adds that the objects were observed while fishing and passed overhead, from a newspaper clipping. The handwritten conclusion is UNIDENTIFIED.

RESEARCHER’S NOTES

Two Fishermen and a Flock of Five-Foot Bombs

The Date Is March 29: Some listings give March 29 or 30. The CIC summary and the card both say March 29 at about 0700, and the clipping, printed March 30, says the men saw them “yesterday morning.”
A Skyhook Note: The faint note on the Third Army cover letter reads roughly “Skyhook (P… …DS).” It is the only hint in the file of a balloon idea, and it may refer to plastic balloons. Blue Book’s card still says UNIDENTIFIED.
What Sewart Said: The Air Force spokesman’s remark that the objects did not match jets is reported in a newspaper and repeated by the CIC. It is not a technical finding.
Two Witnesses, One Account: Both men described the same objects independently in the newspaper, and Williams said he would have doubted himself if Whiteside had not been with him. The Army’s rating reflects how little the CIC could check.
A Low Pass: The objects were at 200 to 300 feet, directly overhead and close enough for the noise to be heard. The estimate of 500 mph depends on two fishermen’s judgment of objects they saw for a few seconds.
Routing: The Third Army sent this report to Air Materiel Command under the same control number (A-1917) it used for its Jackson and Chattanooga transmittals that month, which shows how many Southern reports were flowing north.

The Marrowbone Lake case is a low, noisy, close-range pass by a flock of dark, bomb-like objects, described by two men who were frightened enough to leave the lake at once. It is filed here as Unexplained, in line with Blue Book’s UNIDENTIFIED card, with the caution that it rests on two civilians and a newspaper, and that an unreadable handwritten note on the Army’s cover letter may point to a balloon explanation.