THINK ABOUTIT UFO|UAP SIGHTINGS REPORT

1952: Selma, Alabama, the Bright Object With a Trail

At about 5 p.m. on Sunday, October 19, 1952, many people in and around Selma, Alabama, saw a brilliant, starlike object high in the western sky trailing a bright streak. An Air Force general at nearby Craig Air Force Base watched it for 30 to 40 seconds and did not believe a sunlit contrail could stay so bright.

The Air Force concluded it was a high-flying jet leaving a contrail lit by the sun, and pointed to a jet that Craig tower personnel said passed over the base at about 1725. The file preserves both a detailed witness statement and the general’s dissenting impression.

Date: October 19, 1952

Sighting Time: About 5:00 to 5:35 p.m. (1700–1735)

Day/Night: Late afternoon, before sunset

Location: Selma, Alabama, as seen from Selmont and the vicinity of Craig AFB

Urban or Rural: Town and outskirts

No. of Entity(‘s): None reported

Entity Type: Not applicable

Entity Description: Not applicable

Hynek Classification: DD (Daylight Disc)

Duration: About 30 to 40 seconds in view for the main witnesses; the phenomenon was visible from about 1700 to 1735

No. of Object(s): 1, with a detached trail

Shape of Object(s): Bright star-like point with a trail that varied from short and fan-shaped to ten or fifteen times its width

Size of Object(s): Not recorded

Color of Object(s): Brilliant, star-like, fading to a dull reddish glow

Distance to Object(s): High altitude, estimated 35,000 to 45,000 feet

Height & Speed: High; “not excessive” in the general’s view; on a straight course toward the southeast

Number of Witnesses: Many civilians; at least a lieutenant, a staff sergeant and a general at Craig AFB

Special Features/Characteristics: A trail like an airplane contrail with a separate bright object that seemed to detach from it; no sound; the glow wobbled and faded to dull red

Case Status: Explained by the Air Force as a sunlit high-altitude aircraft contrail; one witness disagreed

Source: Blue Book file (Headquarters, 3615th Pilot Training Wing, Craig AFB, with statements from a lieutenant and a staff sergeant; Air Intelligence Information Report)

Summary/Description: A brilliant object trailing a bright streak was seen by many in Selma on October 19, 1952. The Air Force called it a sunlit jet contrail; a general who watched it did not.

Related Cases: Other mid-October reports on the October 11th–21st page

DETAILED REPORT

Lt. McKee, writing for the 3615th Pilot Training Wing at Craig Air Force Base, reported that at about 1725 on Sunday, October 19, a neighbor called him outside his home in Selmont, about a mile south of the base. He saw an object in the sky that looked like a bright star. It traveled at high speed on what seemed to be a straight course to the southeast, left no trail he could see and made no sound he could hear. When he first saw it, it was about 20 degrees south of the sun at high altitude.

After about thirty or forty seconds, the brilliance changed gradually to a dull reddish glow that wobbled slowly, and then the object disappeared. The Air Force summary says the phenomenon was visible from about 1700 until about 1735, that its altitude was estimated at 35,000 to 45,000 feet and that it consisted of two parts: a trail similar to an airplane contrail and an object that seemed to detach from it, the way an aircraft leaves the conditions that make a contrail.

The trail, which ranged from very short and fan-shaped to ten or fifteen times the object’s width depending on the observer’s position, was generally believed to be caused by an airplane flying toward or away from the observers. Tower personnel at Craig AFB reported a jet passing over the base at about 1725, and the Air Force held that a high-speed, high-altitude airplane, made remarkable by the angle of the sun, explained the sighting. The general, however, considered the object unusual because of its brilliance, the length of time it kept it and how it disappeared, and thought it generated its own light.

RESEARCHER’S NOTES

Selma 1952: A Contrail Explanation and a General’s Doubt

• The explanation: A sunlit contrail at 35,000 to 45,000 feet at dusk is a well-known source of bright, slowly fading streaks, and the Craig tower’s jet report fits the timing.
• The dissent: The general who watched it for thirty or forty seconds said a reflecting surface could not stay at the right angle to the sun for that long, and that the object seemed to burn itself out.
• A wide audience: The sighting drew many civilian reports, which makes it a good example of how a single high-altitude phenomenon can produce many independent statements.
• Blue Book comment: The card calls it an “interesting report and a good on-the-spot analysis.”

Selma shows the Air Force explaining a widely seen event with a specific aircraft and a specific lighting condition, while keeping one respected witness’s doubts in the record.

“In shape, brilliance and color it resembled the evening star.”

— Lt. McKee, 3615th Pilot Training Wing, statement on the October 19, 1952 sighting (Blue Book file)