An Air Force captain and corporal saw a long, almost transparent, spotted tube cross the sky at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in July 1951
THINK ABOUTIT UFO|UAP SIGHTINGS REPORT
1951: A long, glassy, polka-dotted tube crosses the sky over Portsmouth, New Hampshire
At about 7:10 p.m. on July 24, 1951, an Air Force captain and a corporal from Hanscom Air Force Base were driving north on U.S. Route 1 toward the toll bridge at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, when they saw a long tube with a fin on its rear end pass from east to west across a clear sky. The captain, the base’s assistant operations officer, put it at 100 to 200 feet long, almost colorless, like fused glass, and covered with black spots.
It made no sound and left no trail but a swath like a very weak rainbow, and it vanished in about twenty seconds as though it had gone into a cloud bank, although there were no clouds. The Air Force’s Office of Special Investigations interviewed the captain, Hanscom sent a full report to Air Materiel Command, and Blue Book’s card has a one-word comment: Unidentified.
Date: July 24, 1951
Sighting Time: 7:10 p.m. EST (1910; 0010Z on July 25)
Day/Night: Daylight; the report places the faint rainbow swath between the witnesses and the sun
Location: U.S. Route 1 approaching the toll bridge at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, about two miles from the toll gate; object passed over the bridge
Urban or Rural: Highway on the edge of a small city
No. of Entity(‘s): 0
Entity Type: None observed
Entity Description: Not Applicable
Hynek Classification: DD (Daylight Disc)
Duration: About 20 seconds (captain); 5 to 10 seconds (corporal)
No. of Object(s): 1
Description of the Object(s): A long tube with a fin construction on the rear end, its thickness about one fifth of its length. Overall almost colorless, resembling fused glass, grayish to invisible and almost transparent, with black spots dotted over its entire length.
Shape of Object(s): Long tube with a fin at one end; the corporal likened it to a large hot dog tapering slightly toward the rear
Size of Object(s): 100 to 200 feet long (captain); about four or five times as long as high (corporal)
Color of Object(s): Almost colorless, grayish to invisible, with black polka-dot spots
Distance to Object(s): Estimated 2 to 4 miles from the witnesses
Height & Speed: 1,000 to 2,000 feet and roughly 800 to 1,000 mph in level flight from east to west (captain); 500 to 1,000 feet and no speed estimate, but much faster than any aircraft he had seen (corporal)
Number of Witnesses: 2 (a captain, the assistant base operations officer, and a corporal, both of Hanscom AFB; names redacted in the released file)
Special Features/Characteristics: No sound; no exhaust or vapor trail except a swath resembling a very weak rainbow; no maneuvers; vanished as quickly as it appeared; no clouds in the sky; two B-47 aircraft were flying south 10 to 15 miles from the object at 1900E
Case Status: Project Blue Book card: Other (Unidentified); listed in Don Berliner’s Blue Book unknowns
Source: BBU; Project Blue Book record card; Office of Special Investigations report of August 21, 1951; 6520th Air Base Group, Hanscom Field, report of September 13, 1951
Summary/Description: A Hanscom AFB captain and a corporal driving toward the Portsmouth toll bridge saw a long, glassy, almost transparent tube with a fin and black spots pass east to west at an estimated 800 to 1,000 mph, silent and trailing only a faint rainbow-like swath, before it vanished in about twenty seconds. Blue Book left it Unidentified.
Related Cases: July 1951 UFO sightings archive
Detailed Report
The case reached the Air Force by two routes. Captain [name redacted], assistant base operations officer at Hanscom Field in Bedford, Massachusetts, gave a verbal report, and Special Agent Edward A. Bray of the Office of Special Investigations interviewed him on August 14, 1951. Bray’s report of August 21 records the captain’s account and says that because the captain intended to prepare the standard Air Force Form 112 for Air Materiel Command, the OSI case was closed. On August 24 the OSI district at Wright-Patterson passed the report to the Air Technical Intelligence Center, and on September 13 the 6520th Air Base Group at Hanscom sent the Form 112 report, the corporal’s statement and a weather sequence report to Air Materiel Command.
In the captain’s account, he and a corporal were driving north on main U.S. Highway 1 toward the toll bridge at Portsmouth. At about 1910 hours EST he saw an object pass over the bridge from east to west at an estimated 1,000 to 2,000 feet and 800 to 1,000 mph. His report describes a long tube with a fin construction on the rear end, 100 to 200 feet long and one fifth as thick as it was long, almost colorless and resembling fused glass, grayish to invisible and almost transparent, with black spots dotted along its entire length.
He reported no exhaust or vapor trail except a swath resembling a very weak rainbow. The captain noted that this rainbow was between the witnesses and the sun, making a reflection impossible. The object made no sound and no maneuvers, it moved in level flight, and it disappeared as quickly as it came into sight. There were no clouds in the sky. He put the object 2 to 4 miles from the car.
The Air Force report adds that two B-47 aircraft were flying in a southerly direction at 1900E, about 10 to 15 miles from the object, and that miscellaneous small aircraft were in the same area. It records that there were no meteorological conditions present, no photographs and no physical evidence. A weather sequence for 1930E lists thin scattered cloud at Portland, Manchester and Boston.
The corporal’s written statement agrees on the main event but differs in detail. He wrote that the object came in from the sea in a westerly direction at an altitude of 500 to 1,000 feet and was in his sight for between five and ten seconds. He could make no estimate of its speed but said it was traveling at a considerably greater rate than any other aircraft he had ever seen. Though not well defined, its shape resembled a large hot dog, tapering slightly toward the rear and perhaps four or five times as long as it was high. It seemed to disappear as if into a cloud bank, although there were no clouds in that area.
The OSI agent noted that the corporal said he could supply no more information than the captain and was relying on the captain’s judgment of height and speed, and added that the corporal’s knowledge and experience with military aircraft was negligible. The Blue Book card records a ground-visual sighting by military sources, one object, course west, with the comment UNIDENTIFIED and the Other box checked Unidentified.
The Hynek classification is DD (Daylight Disc), used here for a defined object seen in daylight. No physical effects and no entities were reported.
Researcher’s Notes
Two Witnesses, Two Sets of Numbers
- Classification: DD is the daylight category for a defined object with no physical effects. The tube shape is outside the usual disc form, so the label is a judgment call.
- Captain and Corporal: Both saw a long tube vanish without sound. They differ on altitude (1,000 to 2,000 feet against 500 to 1,000) and on how long they watched (20 seconds against 5 to 10). Both put it moving east to west, the corporal adding that it came in from the sea. The corporal gave no speed.
- Witness Quality: The captain, as assistant base operations officer, worked daily with aircraft. The OSI agent judged the corporal’s aircraft experience negligible and noted he relied on the captain for height and speed. Nothing in the file addresses the captain’s own estimate of 800 to 1,000 mph at 2 to 4 miles; the speed and size figures are visual estimates with no radar or reference.
- Transparency and Spots: Almost transparent and spotted along its length is an unusual description, and the captain wrote that the rainbow swath lay between the witnesses and the sun. The file draws no conclusion from either detail.
- Aircraft Traffic: Two B-47s were noted flying south 10 to 15 miles from the object at 1900E, ten minutes before the sighting, along with small aircraft. The report lists them as traffic and does not link them to the object.
- Names: Don Berliner’s list names the officers; the released Air Force file blacks out both names, so this page does not use them.
- Official Status: Blue Book’s card is a one-word comment: Unidentified. Berliner’s Blue Book unknowns list carries it.
The Portsmouth case combines an experienced Air Force officer, a second witness, a formal OSI interview, a full Form 112 report and a Blue Book Unidentified evaluation. Its weak points are the unusual, hard-to-judge description, the two witnesses’ differing numbers, and the absence of any radar, photograph or physical evidence.
“The object resembled fused glass, being grayish to invisible in color.”
— Office of Special Investigations report of August 21, 1951, on the July 24, 1951 Portsmouth, New Hampshire sighting
