THINK ABOUTIT UFO|UAP SIGHTINGS REPORT

Kelly AFB, Texas:

A B-29 Flight Engineer Sees an Arrow-Shaped Object Drop Past the Wing

At 12:30 p.m. on June 21, 1952, a B-29 cruising over Kelly AFB at 8,000 feet had a visitor for exactly one second. T/Sgt. Howard Davis, the flight engineer, was looking out his window when a small arrow-shaped object with a dark blue center, a white band and a red-tinged edge dropped vertically past the right wing about 500 feet away, trailing reddish sparks.

The Kelly AFB B-29 UFO sighting of June 21, 1952 was filed by the Randolph AFB group intelligence office, which noted it was the second report of an unidentified object in the San Antonio area in a month, though the two objects resembled each other only slightly.

Date: June 21, 1952

Sighting Time: 12:30 p.m. CST (the report first said 1430, then corrected)

Day/Night: Day

Location: Directly over Kelly AFB, San Antonio, Texas, at 8,000 feet

Urban or Rural: Urban (San Antonio)

No. of Entity(‘s): Not Applicable

Entity Type: Not Applicable

Entity Description: Not Applicable

Hynek Classification: Daylight Disc (DD)

Duration: About 1 second

No. of Object(s): 1

Description of the Object(s): An arrow-shaped flat object with a pointed nose and oval trailing edge with an opening in the center; dark blue center banded by a white circle, outer edge red; a trail of reddish sparks and streaks of light began about three feet behind it

Shape/Size/Color of Object(s): Arrow-shaped / about 3½ feet long and 3 feet across / dark blue, white and red

Distance to Object(s): About 500 feet off the aircraft wing

Height & Speed: Seen at 8,000 feet from a B-29 cruising 190 mph on a heading of 107°; the object made a vertical descent, speed not determined

Number of Witnesses: 1 (the flight engineer)

Special Features/Characteristics: Seen through about a 45° arc before it vanished under the right wing; no sound; the pilot turned 360° but the object was gone

Case Status: Unidentified in the file (evaluation B-3 on the intelligence report); no physical evidence

Source: Air Intelligence Information Report, 3510th Flying Training Wing (MB), Randolph AFB, prepared by Capt. Edgar B. Collie; interrogation of T/Sgt. Howard Davis

Summary/Description: A B-29 instructor engineer looking out his window over Kelly AFB saw a small arrow-shaped object with a red-tinged edge drop past the right wing in about one second.

Related Cases: San Antonio, Texas, May 28, 1952

Detailed Report

At about 1430 on June 22, 1952, the Group Intelligence Officer and his assistant interrogated T/Sgt. Howard Davis, flight engineer on B-29 44-86440, after he reported an unidentified flying object. The interrogation revealed an object that was arrow-shaped, with a pointed nose and an oval trailing edge that seemed to have an opening in the center. It measured about 3½ feet long and 3 feet across. Its center was dark blue, banded by a white circle, with the outer edge red.

Davis was looking out the engineer’s window when it came into view in a vertical descent at an estimated 500 feet off the wing. He followed it through about 45° of arc before it disappeared under the right wing, about one second in all. A trail of reddish sparks and streaks of light began about three feet behind it; speed could not be judged and nothing was heard. The time of sighting was corrected in ink to 1230 CST on June 21, 1952.

The aircraft was cruising at 190 mph at 8,000 feet on a heading of 107°, directly over Kelly AFB. Weather was broken cumulus with tops at 6,000 feet and wind from the SSE at 25 mph. When Davis reported it, the aircraft commander turned 360° to the right, but nothing was seen; no interception was attempted and no other aircraft were in the area. Davis had about 600 hours as a B-29 engineer, was an instructor engineer, and was described as sincere and positive of the sighting. A sketch and a certificate were enclosed.

RESEARCHER’S NOTES

One Second, One Engineer, One Sketch

Date and time: The typescript gives 1430 on June 22 for the interrogation and a corrected 1230 CST on June 21 for the sighting; the stamped report date is June 24, 1952.
Evaluation: The report carries a “B-3” evaluation entry; the Blue Book conclusion is not on the pages I read, and Kelly AFB is not on the June 23–30 table.
Related sighting: The report itself refers back to the May 28, 1952 San Antonio report, which is on our May page.
Size: A 3½-foot object at 500 feet, seen for a second, is the kind of estimate that is hard to calibrate; the object was seen in daylight with clear detail in the colors.

A single-witness case, but a precise one: an instructor engineer, a clean description of colors and shape, a trail of sparks, and an intelligence officer who noted the second San Antonio report within a month.