Batesville, Mississippi, July 17, 1952: blue lights over the highway
THINK ABOUTIT UFO|UAP SIGHTINGS REPORT
Batesville, Mississippi Blue Lights:
Two State Troopers Watch Fluorescent Objects for 30 Minutes, July 17, 1952
Shortly after 1:00 on the morning of July 17, 1952, two Mississippi State Highway Patrolmen near Batesville watched two or three round, blue, fluorescent-looking objects, each about 100 feet across, hang in the sky. They seemed to stand still, then began a gradual back-and-forth movement from north to south. One was at an estimated 11,000 feet. The other sat between 3,000 and 5,000 feet. The patrolmen watched for about 30 minutes.
The Batesville, Mississippi UFO sighting of July 1952 is a long-duration nighttime observation by two trained observers whose job was to notice what was moving on the roads and in the sky. It happened two days before the first Washington National Airport radar weekend, and it is on file with Project Blue Book.
Date: July 17, 1952
Sighting Time: 1:07 a.m. CST (0707Z)
Day/Night: Night
Location: Batesville, Mississippi, United States
Urban or Rural: Rural
No. of Entity(‘s): Not Applicable
Entity Type: Not Applicable
Entity Description: Not Applicable
Hynek Classification: Nocturnal Light (NL)
Duration: About 30 minutes
No. of Object(s): 2 or 3
Description of the Object(s): Round objects that looked like blue fluorescent lights. They appeared to stand still, then moved gradually back and forth from north to south
Shape/Size/Color of Object(s): Round; about 100 feet in diameter (estimated); blue, fluorescent in appearance
Distance to Object(s): Not recorded; one object at an estimated 11,000 feet and the other at 3,000 to 5,000 feet
Height & Speed: Altitudes estimated at about 11,000 feet and 3,000 to 5,000 feet; slow back-and-forth movement, speed not recorded
Number of Witnesses: 2 (State Highway Patrolmen)
Special Features/Characteristics: Blue fluorescent glow; two altitudes; hovering followed by slow lateral movement; long duration
Case Status: Record card on file with Project Blue Book; the evaluation box was not legible in the copy I reviewed
Source: Project Blue Book record card (Batesville, Mississippi, July 17, 1952)
Summary/Description: Two State Highway Patrolmen watched two or three round blue fluorescent objects about 100 feet across hover and drift north to south for 30 minutes.
Related Cases: Washington National Airport radar weekends of July 19-20, 1952; Lockbourne AFB, Ohio reports of July 17-18, 1952
Detailed Report
The Project Blue Book record card for Batesville, Mississippi, gives the observation time as 17/0107 CST, or 0707Z on July 17, 1952, which is 1:07 a.m. local time. Two witnesses, State Highway Patrolmen, watched two or three round objects for about 30 minutes.
The objects appeared as blue, fluorescent-colored lights with a diameter the observers estimated at about 100 feet. One was at an estimated altitude of 11,000 feet. The other was at 3,000 to 5,000 feet. The card records that the objects seemed to stand still and then made a gradual back-and-forth movement from north to south.
The record card is the only document I had for this case. An earlier version of this archive listed the time as 1:07 p.m.; the card’s Z-time group of 0707 and the local entry confirm 1:07 a.m.
RESEARCHER’S NOTES
What the Batesville Card Establishes
- Time correction: The card reads 1:07 a.m. CST. A daytime reading would not fit a sighting of luminous blue objects.
- Witnesses: The observers are State Highway Patrolmen. The card does not name them, and the sources I used contain no interview or newspaper account.
- Size and altitude are estimates: A 100-foot diameter at 11,000 feet is an estimate of angular size from the ground. The card gives no basis for checking either figure.
- Two altitudes: The card gives two different altitudes for two or three objects. That separates the report from a single light such as a star or planet, though it does not rule out several aircraft or a layered light effect.
- Open question: The evaluation box on the card is not legible in the copy I reviewed, so the Blue Book conclusion for Batesville is not stated here.
The Batesville sighting is a modest card with a long observation time and unusual color. It stands as a documented report from two patrolmen, not as proof of anything beyond what they said they saw.
Two or three round, blue, fluorescent-looking objects, about 100 feet across, standing still and then moving back and forth.
— Project Blue Book record card summary, Batesville, Mississippi, July 17, 1952 (paraphrased)
