Nine witnesses watched a light climb straight up over Tacoma on April 12, 1951.
THINK ABOUTIT UFO|UAP SIGHTINGS REPORT
1951: A light bursts, dims and shoots straight up over Point Defiance, Tacoma
At 7:40 on the evening of April 12, 1951, nine people at a house in Tacoma, Washington, most of them Air Force personnel from McChord Air Force Base and one a civilian teacher, watched a single light cross the sky northwest of Point Defiance. It flew from the southwest toward the northeast, descending, turned left, and held a straight, level course for about 30 seconds as its lights slowly dimmed.
Then it shot straight up and disappeared. It had given off periodic bursts of light and trailed a silver, cigar-shaped stream 200 to 300 feet long, all in silence, for two and a half to three minutes. An Air Force intelligence report called the witnesses completely reliable, and Blue Book’s card says only Possibly Aircraft.
Date: April 12, 1951
Sighting Time: 7:40 p.m. PST (1940; 0340Z on April 13)
Day/Night: Night (dark, ceiling and visibility unlimited)
Location: Northwest of Point Defiance, viewed from a house in Tacoma, Washington, United States
Urban or Rural: Residential, on the edge of Puget Sound
No. of Entity(‘s): 0
Entity Type: None observed
Entity Description: Not Applicable
Hynek Classification: NL (Nocturnal Light)
Duration: About 2.5 to 3 minutes
No. of Object(s): 1
Description of the Object(s): A light that gave off periodic bursts of light and trailed a silver, cigar-shaped stream of light, with its lights slowly dimming in level flight before it shot upward. No sound.
Shape of Object(s): Unknown; the trail or exhaust stream was cigar-shaped
Size of Object(s): Unknown; the trail was about 200 to 300 feet long
Color of Object(s): Unknown; the trail was silver
Distance to Object(s): Not recorded
Height & Speed: Altitude unknown; speed unknown but described as tremendous
Number of Witnesses: 9 (a master sergeant, a staff sergeant, a corporal, two privates first class, three privates and a civilian teacher)
Special Features/Characteristics: Descended from the southwest to the northeast, turned left to the northwest, flew straight and level about 30 seconds with its lights slowly dimming, then shot straight up and vanished; periodic bursts of light; silent; guests inside the house called out about the duration and appearance of the bursts
Case Status: Project Blue Book card: Possibly Aircraft; Air Force intelligence report IR-85-51 calls the witnesses completely reliable and says their information was confirmed by other sources
Source: Project Blue Book record card; Air Intelligence Information Report IR-85-51, Headquarters MATS, May 14, 1951
Summary/Description: Nine people at a Tacoma house, most of them Air Force personnel, watched a single light fly southwest to northeast, turn northwest, level off for about 30 seconds as its lights dimmed, then climb straight up and vanish, with periodic bursts of light and a silver stream trailing 200 to 300 feet behind it. The Air Force called the witnesses completely reliable; Blue Book listed the case as Possibly Aircraft.
Related Cases: April 1951 UFO sightings archive
Detailed Report
The primary record is Air Intelligence Information Report IR-85-51 of the Intelligence Division, Headquarters Military Air Transport Service, Andrews Air Force Base, dated May 14, 1951, prepared by Major Joseph V. Carels and approved by Lieutenant Colonel William L. Travis, with an information date of April 16, 1951. It is accompanied by a Project Blue Book record card. The report says the sighting was submitted by the McChord Flight Service Center, McChord Air Force Base, Washington. The witnesses’ names and the house’s address are redacted in the released copy.
The report places the sighting northwest of Point Defiance, Tacoma, at 1940 PST on April 12, 1951, with ceiling and visibility unlimited. It lists nine witnesses: a master sergeant, a staff sergeant, a corporal, a private first class and two privates of the 325th Air Base Group headquarters squadron, a private first class of the 325th Air Wing headquarters squadron, a private of the 635th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, and a civilian instructor who is a teacher at a Tacoma institution. There were no photographs or sketches.
One object was seen. Its shape, size and color are listed as unknown, its altitude as unknown, and its speed as unknown but tremendous. Its heading was southwest to northeast, then northwest. The report describes its maneuvers: it flew from the southwest to the northeast, descending, then turned left to the northwest and flew straight and level for approximately thirty seconds with its lights slowly dimming, after which it shot straight upward and disappeared. The object gave forth periodic bursts of light. There was no sound. The vapor trail, exhaust or stream of light was cigar-shaped, approximately 200 to 300 feet long and silver in color.
The general remarks say the object was in view for approximately two and a half to three minutes. Guests called from inside the master sergeant’s house remarked on the duration and appearance of the light bursts. The witnesses tried to estimate speed and altitude, but in the dark and silence they had no basis for comparison. The report says the witnesses are considered completely reliable and their information is confirmed by other sources; it does not name those sources.
The Blue Book card records the observation as ground-visual, military source, one object, 2.5 to 3 minutes, course southwest to northeast to northwest. Its summary reads: speed was tremendous; descending, level and straight up. Its comment is two words, possible aircraft, and the conclusion box is checked Possibly Aircraft.
The Hynek classification is NL (Nocturnal Light). The witnesses saw a light and its trail at night, with no structure resolved, no physical effects and no entities.
Researcher’s Notes
Possibly Aircraft: What the Card Does and Does Not Say
- Classification: NL fits a light seen at night with no resolved body. The cigar-shaped silver stream is the only structural detail, and it describes the trail, not the object.
- The Card’s Comment: Blue Book’s comment is two words, possible aircraft. It gives no reasoning, and the file contains no flight-schedule check for McChord or Sea-Tac that evening.
- What Counts Against an Aircraft: The report lists no sound at all, a straight vertical climb at the end, and bursts of light that guests inside the house remarked on. It also lists dimming lights at constant heading, which fits an aircraft moving away. The report gives no distance, so none of these can be scored against a known aircraft type.
- Witness Quality: Nine witnesses, seven of them enlisted airmen from base units and one from an aircraft control and warning squadron, and a civilian teacher. The Air Force report calls them completely reliable. Several would have been familiar with aircraft lights and sounds, though the report does not say what duties each had.
- Unnamed Confirmation: The report says the information was confirmed by other sources. It does not say whether that means other witnesses, radar, or a flight check, and the file contains nothing more.
- Documentation: A card and a three-page intelligence report. The released copy has no sketch, photograph, radar record or witness statements.
The Tacoma case is a short, silent night sighting by nine people, most of them Air Force personnel, with a clear flight path, a distinctive end to it and an intelligence report that vouches for the witnesses. Its weak point is that no size, shape or distance was recorded, and Blue Book’s two-word aircraft comment explains none of it.
“The witnesses are considered completely reliable and their information is confirmed by other sources.”
— Air Intelligence Information Report IR-85-51, Headquarters MATS, May 14, 1951, on the April 12, 1951 Tacoma sighting
