Alexandria, Virginia, August 19, 1951: a Navy lieutenant and his wife watch a frosty silver football-shaped object.
THINK ABOUTIT UFO|UAP SIGHTINGS REPORT
1951: A Navy Lieutenant and His Wife See a “Frosty” Football-Shaped Object Over Alexandria, Virginia
At 6:05 p.m. on Sunday, August 19, 1951, a Navy lieutenant and his wife driving through Alexandria, Virginia, saw a “frosty” silvery, football-shaped object about three or four miles away, southeast of the Masonic Memorial. It had no wings, no tail, no vapor trail, no smoke and no sound, and as it moved away through the evening sunlight its reflection never changed, as a metal aircraft’s would. The lieutenant reported it to the Pentagon command post that evening.
Lt. Col. M. D. Willis of Air Force intelligence interviewed the lieutenant and concluded that he had probably seen the sun glinting off an aircraft much higher than he thought. The lieutenant disagreed in his own written statement: “It did not behave like a balloon. It did not look like any form of aircraft known to the observer.” The Alexandria UFO sighting, just outside Washington, D.C., shows how a trained observer’s report was handled in the summer of 1951.
Date: August 19, 1951
Sighting Time: 6:05 p.m. EDT (1805; 2205Z)
Day/Night: Day (sunlit, evening)
Location: Alexandria, Virginia, with the object first seen about two miles southeast of the Masonic Memorial
Urban or Rural: Urban
No. of Entity(‘s): Not Applicable
Entity Type: Not Applicable
Entity Description: Not Applicable
Hynek Classification: Daylight Disc (DD); an oval, football-shaped object seen in daylight
Duration: About two minutes (1805 to 1807)
No. of Object(s): 1
Description of the Object(s): A “frosty” silvery football-shaped object with its long axis parallel to the ground. It showed no wings, tail surfaces, or other protuberances, no vapor trail, no smoke or other sign of propulsion, and no apparent noise. Its reflection did not change as it passed through the sunlight, and it appeared to follow a controlled flight path at constant altitude.
Shape/Size/Color of Object(s): Elliptical or football-shaped; off-hand estimate 50 feet long and 20 feet high; frosty silver; shape did not change
Distance to Object(s): About three to four miles when first sighted; estimated 10 to 12 miles when last seen
Height & Speed: Apparent altitude 2,000 to 4,000 feet, steady; speed very high; course about 155 degrees true, away from and to the right of the observers; elevation 5 to 7 degrees, decreasing
Number of Witnesses: 2 (a Navy lieutenant and his wife; names redacted in the file)
Special Features/Characteristics: No change in reflection through sunlight; no propulsion signs; lost from view when the witnesses turned off King Street to climb Masonic Memorial hill; reported to the Pentagon command post; interviewed by Air Force intelligence
Case Status: Evaluated as aircraft (Project Blue Book record card); the witness maintained it did not look like any aircraft he knew
Source: Project Blue Book case file (record card; lieutenant’s signed statement and sketches; CSAF Item 7; Air Force disposition form of September 7, 1951; ATIC teleconference 220)
Summary/Description: A Navy lieutenant and his wife watched a silent, frosty silver, football-shaped object cross the evening sky over Alexandria; Air Force intelligence judged it a sun reflection off an aircraft.
Related Cases: Other August 1951 daylight reports of objects at high speed (Port Clinton, August 8; Herkimer, August 5)
Detailed Report
The Sighting
The lieutenant’s signed report, with sketches, gives the time as 1805 EDT on August 19, 1951, with surface wind SSW at 12 knots and winds aloft from the south-southwest to northwest (Anacostia NAS data). The object looked like a “frosty” silvery football with its long axis parallel to the ground. He estimated its size off-hand at 50 feet along its long axis and 20 feet on its vertical axis. When first sighted at 1805 it appeared to be about two miles southeast of the Masonic Memorial in Alexandria and about three to four miles from the observers, at an apparent altitude of 2,000 to 4,000 feet and holding steady, at an elevation of 5 to 7 degrees that decreased slightly as the object moved into the distance. It was moving away from them and to the right on a course he estimated at 155 degrees true. By 1807 it was an estimated 10 to 12 miles farther away, judged against a visibility of about 20 miles. They lost sight of it when they turned off King Street to go up Masonic Memorial hill for a better look, and from the clear area on top of the hill they could not find it again.
He stressed what was unusual: the object did not change its reflection as it moved through the sunlight. It had no wings, no tail surfaces or other protuberances, no vapor trail, no smoke or other sign of propulsion, and no apparent noise. His summary reads that the object appeared to be progressing along a controlled flight path at constant altitude, that the decrease in its elevation was probably due to its disappearing into the distance, since its size appeared to decrease at the same time, that it did not behave like a balloon, and that it did not look like any form of aircraft known to him.
The Air Force Evaluation
The lieutenant reported the sighting to the command post at the Pentagon. The interview was conducted by Lt. Col. M. D. Willis of the Air Force Directorate of Intelligence, project officer for unidentified flying objects, and the report went to the Chief of Staff as CSAF Item 7, marked for information and action. It said it seemed likely that the observation was a reflection of the sun’s rays from an aircraft flying much higher than the witness estimated, at an altitude of 6,000 to 15,000 feet and at a speed that depended on how far away the object was. The reported apparent altitude of 2,000 to 4,000 feet was judged to be incorrect, considering the other observations made.
A disposition form of September 7, 1951 sent the lieutenant’s signed statement and sketches to the Air Technical Intelligence Center for analysis and filing, noting that the evaluation was made in ATIC teleconference 220, item 7. The Blue Book record card reads that the case was evaluated as aircraft and lists the object as one, oval and 50 feet long, with very high speed and a “frosty silver” color.
RESEARCHER’S NOTES
Trained Observer Versus the Aircraft Explanation
- The witness: A naval officer reporting immediately to the Pentagon, with a written statement, sketches, and wind data. His name is redacted in the file.
- The explanation: The Air Force suggested a high-altitude aircraft glinting in the sun. That would explain the frosty, constant shine and the lack of detail, but it rests on the assumption that the witness misjudged altitude and size.
- What the lieutenant noticed: The reflection did not flicker or change as it crossed the sun’s angle, which he considered unlike an aircraft’s metal skin. The file does not say whether the Air Force tested that point.
- The balloon question: He ruled out a balloon himself, citing a controlled, level course. The report includes wind data of 13 to 15 knots from the south-southwest to southwest, but the file does not use it to test a balloon explanation.
- Evaluation: Blue Book filed the case as aircraft. The two views are both recorded in the file.
The Air Force’s explanation is plausible and the lieutenant’s objections are recorded. With one sighting of about two minutes, no photograph, and no radar check in the file, the case cannot be settled either way, and the archive keeps it with Blue Book’s evaluation of aircraft.
“It did not behave like a balloon. It did not look like any form of aircraft known to the observer.”
— Navy lieutenant’s signed report, Alexandria, Virginia, August 19, 1951
