THINK ABOUTIT UFO|UAP SIGHTINGS REPORT

1952: Three Pilot Instructors Take Fixes on a Motionless Silver Object Over Benson, Arizona for 51 Minutes

At 8:15 a.m. MST on April 3, 1952, three civilian Air Force pilot instructors and several other people at the airport at Benson, Arizona noticed an object about the size of a bright star that stayed prominent enough to be watched without scanning the sky. At 8:23 one of the instructors sat in a T-6 and sighted across the canopy with the aircraft on a magnetic heading of 255 degrees, then took fixes at intervals until 9:14.

The object did not move in 51 minutes. When one instructor flew a T-6 up to 13,500 feet to see it better, its size did not change, and cadets flying T-6s in the area also saw it. It vanished while an observer looked away for about 15 seconds. The status report said the fixes ruled out an aircraft or balloon; the Blue Book record card later lists this Benson, Arizona UFO case as a balloon launched from Davis-Monthan AFB.

Date: April 3, 1952

Sighting Time: 8:15 a.m. MST first noted; fix at 8:23; last fix and disappearance at 9:14

Day/Night: Day

Location: Benson airport, Benson, Arizona

Urban or Rural: Rural airport

No. of Entity’s: Not Applicable

Entity Type: Not Applicable

Entity Description: Not Applicable

Hynek Classification: DD (Daylight Disc)

Duration: 51 to 52 minutes

No. of Object(s): 1

Description of the Object(s): A silver, circular object, about the size of a bright star, that hovered without moving

Shape/Size/Color of Object(s): Silver, circular; about the size of a bright star

Distance to Object(s): Not given; no relative change in size from 13,500 feet

Height & Speed: No motion observed; the card gives a bearing of 70–75 degrees elevation at 268 degrees true; the first report put it “two inches above the canopy” from the T-6 seat

Number of Witnesses: 3 civilian AF pilot instructors plus several others (the card says 4 AF civilian pilots); several cadets flying T-6s also saw it

Special Features/Characteristics: Fix taken from a T-6 canopy at intervals for 51 minutes; a T-6 climbed to 13,500 feet with no change in size; the object disappeared during a 15-second lapse of attention

Case Status: Blue Book: Balloon (record card: Was Balloon); the status report conclusion was Pending

Source: Project Blue Book Status Report 6, Appendix III; Project Blue Book record card; Blue Book April list; Project 1947; FUFOR Index

Summary/Description: Pilot instructors watched a silver, star-sized object for 51 minutes and took fixes proving it did not move, which the status report said excluded an aircraft or balloon. Blue Book later filed it as a Davis-Monthan balloon.

Detailed Report

Status Report 6, Appendix III, records the incident: on April 3, 1952 at 0815 MST three civilian AF pilot instructors and several other people observed an object from the Benson, Arizona airport. The object was about the size of a bright star but prominent enough to be continually observed; it was not necessary to scan the sky to find it.

At 0823 MST one of the instructors took a fix on the object by sitting in a T-6 and sighting across the canopy with the aircraft on a magnetic heading of 255 degrees. Fixes were taken at intervals until 0914, at which time the object disappeared. The object did not move during the 51-minute period. How it disappeared is not known, as one observer’s attention was distracted for about 15 seconds and when he looked up the object was gone.

One of the instructors flew a T-6 up to 13,500 feet in an attempt to better observe the object; however, there was no relative change in the size. Several cadets flying T-6s in the area also observed the object.

Under Status of the Investigation, the report says the excellent forethought of the instructor to take continual fixes on the object eliminated the possibility of its being an aircraft or balloon since no motion was observed. In addition, an investigation determined there were no balloons in the area. It is possible that the object was a bright planet, which the report calls doubtful since a planet would appear to move some in 51 minutes. The approximate elevation of the fix had been requested; in the original report it was given as “two inches above the canopy,” an angle that will depend on the height of the pilot, the height of the seat and so on, and once received a nearly exact fix could be obtained and known astronomical bodies checked. The conclusions are Pending.

The Project Blue Book record card, in contrast, checks Was Balloon. It lists the source as 4 AF civilian pilots, 52 minutes, one object, silver, circular, hovered, and records: “Balloon launched from Davis Monthan AFB at 1500. Burst at 28,807 meters. Was not Venus or ‘Skyhook.’” Its comments say observers watched the object for 52 minutes at a bearing of 70 to 75 degrees elevation at 268 degrees true.

RESEARCHER’S NOTES

A Fixed Position, a Pending Conclusion and a Balloon Card

Two Conclusions. The status report says the continual fixes and the lack of balloons in the area excluded an aircraft or balloon, with a planet doubtful; the later card says Was Balloon. The file does not show how the second view replaced the first.
The Launch Time. The card gives 1500 for the Davis-Monthan launch. If that is Zulu, it is 8:00 a.m. MST, about 15 minutes before the first sighting. That is my reading; the card does not give the zone.
Elevation. The report puts the first fix “two inches above the canopy.” The card gives 70 to 75 degrees elevation at 268 degrees true. The two may not describe the same moment, and the report says the angle still had to be worked out.
Witness Count. The report says three instructors and several others; the card says four civilian pilots.
Naming. The live page lists this case as Marana, Arizona; the file is Benson, with no mention of Marana. The (BBU) tag and the “above 54,000 feet” figure on the live page are not in the file.

Benson is the April case that shows how a card can overrule a status report. The pilots did the careful thing: they took fixes for nearly an hour. The Air Force intelligence staff concluded that this ruled out a balloon, and the record card lists a balloon anyway.