Chanute AFB, Illinois, September 16, 1952, 10:10–11:25 p.m.
THINK ABOUTIT UFO|UAP SIGHTINGS REPORT
1952: Chanute AFB, Illinois, the Control Tower Light
On the night of September 16, 1952, First Lt. Alan R. Hogan, an aircraft controller and rated pilot with 850 flying hours and 65 combat missions, and two airmen in the control tower at Chanute AFB, Illinois saw an unusually bright bluish-white light about ten times the diameter of the neighboring stars. It moved along a straight path, climbed, vanished three times for several minutes each and came back larger and higher every time.
Through 8-power binoculars the light looked about twice as large. A teletype to the Pentagon and Air Technical Intelligence Center describes a single object with two small satellites visible through binoculars, and the controller asked for an interception attempt by local flying. It was unsuccessful, with a light layer of stratus cloud present.
Date: September 16, 1952
Sighting Time: 10:10 p.m. to 11:25 p.m. CDT (the teletype gives 2225 CDT for the first notice)
Day/Night: Night
Location: Chanute AFB control tower, Rantoul, Illinois
Urban or Rural: Rural air base
No. of Entity(‘s): None reported
Entity Type: Not applicable
Entity Description: Not applicable
Hynek Classification: NL (Nocturnal Light)
Duration: About 1 hour 15 minutes with three disappearances
No. of Object(s): 1, with two small satellites seen through binoculars per the teletype
Description of the Object(s): An unusually bright bluish-white light about ten times the diameter of nearby stars that moved in a straight path, climbed, vanished and reappeared larger and higher three times
Shape of Object(s): Round or irregular rounded; two small satellites through binoculars
Size of Object(s): About ten times a neighboring star’s diameter; about twice that through 8-power binoculars
Color of Object(s): Bluish-white
Distance to Object(s): Not recorded
Height & Speed: Rose from about 15° to 60° above the horizon; speed not recorded
Number of Witnesses: 3 (Lt. Hogan and two airmen)
Special Features/Characteristics: Vanished three times for several minutes each time and reappeared larger and higher; watched from 10:28 p.m. through 8-power binoculars; heading moved from about 50° to 35° then to 90° compass; attempted interception by local flying was unsuccessful; a light stratus layer was present
Case Status: Insufficient Data
Source: Blue Book file (Chanute AFB teletype and Air Intelligence Information Report from the interview of September 17, 1952)
Summary/Description: Lt. Alan R. Hogan and two airmen in the Chanute AFB control tower watched an unusually bright bluish-white light climb across the sky from 10:10 to 11:25 p.m., vanishing three times for several minutes and reappearing larger and higher each time. An interception attempt by local flying failed.
Related Cases: the other September 16 night-light reports on the September 1st–16th page
DETAILED REPORT
On September 17, 1952, Lt. Alan R. Hogan was interviewed in his office at Chanute AFB. He and two airmen were on duty in the control tower the evening before and all three noticed an unusually bright bluish-white light, about ten times the diameter of the neighboring stars, about 15 degrees above the horizon at a compass heading of about 50 degrees.
Over the observation period, 10:10 to 11:25 p.m. CDT, the object moved in a straight path to about 20 degrees above the horizon at 35 degrees compass heading, then ascended to about 60 degrees and 90 degrees compass heading and disappeared as if going behind a cloud. On the ascent it disappeared three times for several minutes each time, and on each reappearance it was at a higher altitude and looked larger. From about 10:28 p.m. it was watched through uncalibrated 8-power binoculars that made it look about twice as large as it did to the naked eye.
The teletype sent to Air Force Intelligence, Air Technical Intelligence Center and other commands describes the single bluish-white object with two small satellites visible through binoculars, and says the operator, a former pilot with 850 hours and 65 combat missions, requested an interception attempt by local flying. The attempt was unsuccessful with a light layer of stratus present. The weather-data pages that accompany the file are blank in the scan.
RESEARCHER’S NOTES
Chanute 1952: A Tower Crew, Binoculars and a Light That Came Back Larger
- Witness quality: Three men on duty in an air base control tower, one a rated pilot with combat experience, watched the object for over an hour with binoculars. That is a sustained observation by trained people.
- Astronomical possibilities: The file leaves the astronomical boxes unreadable. A bright star or planet seen through intermittent cloud can appear to vanish and return, which is the obvious comparison, but the climb of the light across the sky and the two satellites do not fit a fixed star.
- Date and time in the file: The teletype reads like 15 September at 2225 CDT but the interview report gives 16 September and 2210 to 2325. The archive uses the interview report.
- Intercept: The request for local flying to intercept is in the teletype only. No aircraft results are readable beyond “unsuccessful.”
Chanute is a sustained tower observation by three trained men, with a light that climbed, vanished and returned larger three times, and with an interception attempt on record. Blue Book lists it as Insufficient Data, which is an honest description of what the file can support.
