THINK ABOUTIT UFO|UAP SIGHTINGS REPORT

1951: A Sunbury, Ohio Farmer With a Telescope Watches a Silvery Sphere Break Apart Into a Dark Cloud and Specks

At about 4:30 p.m. on December 7, 1951, farmer Carl Loar of Route 2, Sunbury, Ohio heard a jet pass over his barn, scanned the sky, and noticed a faint glinting speck very high up. He ran for a powerful telescope and saw a shining, silvery sphere to the north. Over about half an hour he watched two small particles of light appear on either side of it, then what he called a kind of explosion with no flash, a dark cloud, and what he estimated were at least 100 more specks of light.

Loar tried to reach astronomers at the Perkins Observatory in Delaware, Ohio, but none were in. His wife saw the sphere faintly without the telescope. The Air Force status report recorded the case as a shiny, silvery sphere seen through a telescope with no investigation and no conclusions. Berliner’s list of Blue Book unexplained cases includes it.

Date: December 7, 1951

Sighting Time: About 4:30 p.m. EST (the Air Force status report gives 1630 local)

Day/Night: Late afternoon, before sunset

Location: Route 2, Sunbury, Ohio, near the barn behind the witness’s home; the object was first seen high in the sky to the north

Urban or Rural: Rural (a farm)

No. of Entity(‘s): Not Applicable

Entity Type: Not Applicable

Entity Description: Not Applicable

Hynek Classification: Daylight Disc (DD); the object was a sphere, so this is the nearest category

Duration: About half an hour

No. of Object(s): 1 main sphere, with two small particles of light beside it, then at least 100 specks after the break-up (witness’s estimate)

Description of the Object(s): A shining, silvery sphere, at first stationary and then moving to a point over the witness’s head. Two tiny particles of light appeared first on one side of the sphere and then on the other. The witness described a kind of explosion with no flash, after which more bright specks appeared around the sphere, a dark cloud formed, and the sphere moved away from it. More specks kept coming into view until he estimated there were at least 100 in the group.

Shape/Size/Color of Object(s): Sphere; the witness called it of enormous size; shining silver

Distance to Object(s): Not given; the object was at a very high altitude

Height & Speed: The Air Force status report records speed and altitude as high, with a heading from north to west. The witness described it as traveling at a fantastic rate of speed.

Number of Witnesses: 2 (the farmer, who used a telescope, and his wife, who saw the sphere faintly with the naked eye)

Special Features/Characteristics: Seen through a powerful telescope; no sound; two particles of light beside the sphere; an “explosion” without a flash; a dark cloud; at least 100 specks; the sphere moved from north to overhead to west before a cloudbank hid it; no astronomer could be reached by phone

Case Status: Unidentified (listed among Blue Book’s unexplained cases in Berliner’s list). The Air Force status report states: no investigation, no conclusions.

Source: Ohio newspaper article by Paul Gapp in the Project Blue Book file; Project Blue Book record card; Air Force status report No. 2; Berliner’s Blue Book Unknowns list

Summary/Description: A farmer with a telescope watched a silvery sphere for half an hour, seeing small lights appear beside it, an explosion without a flash, a dark cloud and about 100 specks. His wife saw it faintly. No one investigated.

Related Cases: The Oak Ridge, Tennessee sighting of the same date, December 7, 1951; the Columbus, Ohio sighting of December 22, 1951

Detailed Report

The Sighting

The file’s account comes from an Ohio newspaper article by Paul Gapp that the Air Force clipped. Loar was standing near the barn behind his house on Route 2, Sunbury, at about 4:30 p.m. on December 7 when he heard a jet airplane pass overhead. Scanning the sky after the aircraft, he saw another object, at first a faint, glinting speck high in the sky. He rushed into the house for a powerful telescope and returned outside for a closer look.

In the telescope he saw a shining, silvery sphere to the north. It first seemed to be stationary and then began moving to a point over his head. “I would say it was of enormous size and traveling at a fantastic rate of speed,” he told the reporter. He paused long enough to make a quick phone call to Perkins Observatory at Delaware, Ohio. None of the astronomers were in.

The Break-Up

While he kept the telescope on the sky, he said, “even more amazing things happened.” Two tiny particles of light appeared, first on one side of the main sphere and then on the other. Then he saw “a kind of explosion, although there was no flash.” After that, other bright specks appeared around the sphere, a dark cloud was somehow produced, and the sphere moved rapidly away from it. More specks kept coming into view until he estimated there were at least 100 in the group.

During the half hour of observation the sphere moved from the north to a point overhead and then into the west, where a cloudbank hid it. His wife, Frances, saw the sphere faintly without the telescope, which she could not manipulate.

Ridicule and the Air Force

Loar told a few neighbors, but they could not keep a straight face. Afraid of further ridicule, he hesitated to tell newsmen. He wrote to True magazine in New York and received a reply asking for full information. He was sure the sphere was not a weather balloon, a conventional airship or a normal celestial object. The reporter described him as not the type to be prone to flights of imagination.

The Air Force status report lists the date as December 7, 1951, the time as 1630 local, the duration as half an hour, no sound, high speed and altitude, and a heading from north to west, with a civilian source. Under action or comments it says “No investigation. No conclusions.” The description reads only “Shiny, silvery sphere seen through telescope.”

RESEARCHER’S NOTES

Why the Sunbury Sighting Still Matters

A telescopic observation: Most 1951 reports describe lights seen with the naked eye. Loar saw the sphere magnified, which makes his description of the two side particles and the break-up more detailed than usual, and also hard to check.
Never investigated: The Air Force status report says there was no investigation and no conclusions. No astronomer examined the report and the telescope was never inspected.
A second witness, weakly: His wife saw the sphere faintly without the telescope. That confirms something was in the sky but not the break-up, which only Loar saw.
Possible mundane explanations are not tested in the file: The file does not say whether balloons, aircraft contrails or atmospheric effects were considered. This site does not offer one that the file does not support.
The witness spoke reluctantly: He feared ridicule and went to the press only after neighbors laughed. The reporter wrote that he was positive about what he saw.
Same date as Oak Ridge: Berliner’s list carries the Oak Ridge and Sunbury cases as the only December 1951 unexplained entries, both on December 7.

A farmer with a telescope reported a silvery sphere, two side lights, a silent explosion, a dark cloud and about 100 specks of light over half an hour on the afternoon of December 7, 1951. The Air Force did not investigate, and the case stays among Blue Book’s unexplained reports.