Terre Haute, Indiana, October 9, 1951: an airport official watches a silver object cross the sky over Hulman Field.
THINK ABOUTIT UFO|UAP SIGHTINGS REPORT
1951: Airport Official at Hulman Field and a Private Pilot See a Fast Silver Object Near Terre Haute, Indiana
At 1:42 p.m. on October 9, 1951, the Civil Aeronautics Administration’s chief aircraft communicator at Hulman Municipal Airport, five miles east of Terre Haute, Indiana, watched a round, silver object with no fins or protrusions pass directly overhead and reach the horizon in about 15 seconds, silent, without a vapor trail, and at a very high rate of speed. The sky was clear and the sun bright. He was, as a wire-service story put it, a “hard-headed” airport official.
Three minutes later a private pilot flying from Greencastle, Indiana, toward Paris, Illinois, saw a silver object at 5,000 feet that seemed to hang motionless, then moved off to the northeast. The Air Force plotted the two reports together, and Project Blue Book carried the Terre Haute sighting as Unidentified, noting that the speed was not consistent with an aircraft.
Date: October 9, 1951
Sighting Time: 1:42 p.m. CST (1942Z); the Paris, Illinois pilot report came at about 1:45 p.m. CST (1945Z)
Day/Night: Day (clear, bright sun, no clouds or haze)
Location: Hulman Municipal Airport, five miles east of Terre Haute, Indiana; the pilot’s sighting was just east of Paris, Illinois, at 5,000 feet
Urban or Rural: Rural (airport)
No. of Entity(‘s): Not Applicable
Entity Type: Not Applicable
Entity Description: Not Applicable
Hynek Classification: Daylight Disc (DD); no entity, landing, or physical effect reported
Duration: About 15 seconds from overhead to the horizon (Terre Haute); not reported (Paris)
No. of Object(s): 1
Description of the Object(s): A round, silver object without fins or protrusions. The shape and general form could be seen as it passed over the horizon. There was no sound and no vapor trail. The pilot described a silver object that did not grow or shrink as he approached, then started to move.
Shape/Size/Color of Object(s): Round; silver; about the size of a 50-cent piece held at arm’s length (Terre Haute)
Distance to Object(s): Passed directly overhead (Terre Haute); the pilot approached it closely enough that it neither increased nor diminished in apparent size
Height & Speed: Altitude not given for Terre Haute; very high rate of speed, straight flight to the southeast from zenith to horizon in about 15 seconds. The pilot’s object was at 5,000 feet, apparently stationary at first, then moved northeast south of the Newport, Indiana, atomic energy plant.
Number of Witnesses: 2 (the airport official and the private pilot; names redacted in the file)
Special Features/Characteristics: No sound; no vapor trail; witness described by the press as a hard-headed official; both reports came within minutes of each other on a clear day; the story reached the wire services on October 10
Case Status: Unidentified (Project Blue Book record card for Terre Haute: Other, “Unidentified”; the card says it could be an aircraft but that 15 seconds from zenith to horizon is not consistent with that analysis). The Paris, Illinois card: Insufficient Data.
Source: Project Blue Book record cards (Terre Haute and Paris, October 9, 1951); Project Grudge status report appendices; Air Force message traffic of October 11 to 20, 1951; Brad Sparks, Blue Book Unknowns Catalogue; NICAP
Summary/Description: An airport official at Hulman Field and a private pilot over Paris, Illinois, reported a silver object within minutes of each other on a clear afternoon; the Air Force treated them as one object and could not identify it.
Related Cases: The Paris, Illinois pilot report of the same afternoon (cross-referenced in the same Air Force files); the Minneapolis and St. Croix Falls balloon-crew sightings of October 10 and 11, 1951
Detailed Report
The Sighting at Hulman Field
On October 9, 1951, at 1342 CST, a CAA chief aircraft communicator at Hulman Municipal Airport saw a silver object pass directly overhead. He judged its size to be that of a 50-cent piece held at arm’s length. It passed overhead at a very high rate of speed, heading southeast, and went from the zenith to the horizon in about 15 seconds. There was no sound and no vapor trail, and the shape and general form of the object could be made out as it went over the horizon. The weather was clear with a bright sun and no clouds or haze.
The Blue Book card records the object as round and silver, without fins or protrusions, flying straight for 15 seconds with no sound. The analyst considered it a possible aircraft sighting, but wrote that 15 seconds for a flight from the zenith to a point over the horizon “is not consistent with this analysis,” and carried the case as unidentified.
The Pilot Over Paris, Illinois
At about 1345 CST a private pilot flying from Greencastle, Indiana, to Paris, Illinois, saw a silver object just east of Paris at 5,000 feet. It appeared stationary because it did not grow or shrink as his aircraft approached. It then began to move in a northeasterly direction south of the Newport, Indiana, atomic energy plant. The investigation turned up no significant facts and could not establish whether any jet aircraft had been in the area, because too much time had passed. The Paris card was marked Insufficient Data; its comment says all the basic data suggest a balloon, but that without motion and duration no firm analysis could be made.
The Wire Story and the Air Force Response
A United Press story in the October 10 newspapers described the airport official as a “hard-headed CAA official” who had joined those who believed in flying saucers after seeing a “huge metallic object speeding across the field.” On October 11 the Eastern Air Defense Force teletyped the Air Technical Intelligence Center in Ohio, noting the story and asking whether it wanted an investigation. ATIC replied by priority message on October 11 asking for an immediate field investigation and any information that could go out as a flash intelligence report. An October 20 message reported that an Air Force investigative office was already looking into the incident and suggested contacting its Indianapolis office for a copy of the report.
Project Grudge’s status reports carried the two sightings as related appendices, and the Terre Haute entry states that further details would be obtained but that it was doubtful any further information would reveal the object’s identity.
RESEARCHER’S NOTES
Why the Terre Haute Sighting Still Matters
- Two independent witnesses: A ground observer and a pilot reported silver objects within about three minutes of each other, on a clear day, 30 to 40 miles apart. Neither report on its own proves a single object, but the Air Force plotted them together.
- The timing problem: Fifteen seconds from zenith to horizon is a very high angular rate. The analyst used exactly that figure to reject an aircraft explanation.
- Mixed evaluations: The Terre Haute card says Unidentified, while the Paris card says Insufficient Data and leans toward a balloon. Blue Book treated them together in the status reports but evaluated them separately.
- A balloon at Paris?: A balloon would fit an object that seemed stationary, but it would not fit a silver object crossing the sky at jet speed forty miles away minutes earlier.
- Figures that differ: Press accounts called the object a “huge metallic object,” while the official file gives the apparent size as a 50-cent piece at arm’s length. Published catalogs also describe it as a “flattened” shape, which the file does not use.
The honest reading is a clear-day report from an experienced aviation official that the Air Force could not explain, paired with a pilot report that the Air Force thought most likely a balloon. The pair cannot be merged into one confirmed object, but the Terre Haute half stands as one of the better daytime reports of the month.
“15 seconds for flight from the zenith to a point over the horizon is not consistent with this analysis.”
— Project Blue Book record card, Terre Haute, Indiana, October 9, 1951
