Toledo, Ohio, October 23, 1952
THINK ABOUTIT UFO|UAP SIGHTINGS REPORT
1952: Toledo, Ohio, Six Yellow-Orange Objects and Five Color Slides
At about 6:30 p.m. on October 23, 1952, two civilians and one military passenger riding in a car near Toledo, Ohio saw six yellow-orange objects fly due south without a sound, seemingly trailing fire. They looked stationary at first, then began to move. The party stopped the car, got out, and one of them took a series of five color slides.
The Blue Book card lists a balloon evaluation, but the section for it is hard to read on the scan. The slides themselves are mentioned in the comments, and no analysis of them appears in the pages supplied.
Date: October 23, 1952
Sighting Time: About 6:30 p.m. EST (1830)
Day/Night: Dusk / night
Location: Toledo, Ohio
Urban or Rural: Highway
No. of Entity(‘s): None reported
Entity Type: Not applicable
Entity Description: Not applicable
Hynek Classification: NL (Nocturnal Light)
Duration: Not recorded on the card
No. of Object(s): 6
Shape of Object(s): Not described
Size of Object(s): Not recorded
Color of Object(s): Yellow-orange, seemingly trailing fire
Distance to Object(s): Not recorded
Height & Speed: Horizon to horizon, due south; stationary at first, then moving
Number of Witnesses: 3 (two civilians and one military passenger)
Special Features/Characteristics: No sound; the observers stopped the car; five color slides taken
Case Status: The card’s evaluation is hard to read in the scan; a balloon option is marked among the choices
Source: Blue Book file (record card and observer questionnaire)
Summary/Description: Three people in a car saw six yellow-orange objects fly due south in silence, trailing fire, on October 23, 1952, and one took five color slides.
Related Cases: Other late-October file cases on the October 22nd–31st page
DETAILED REPORT
The record card says six yellow-orange objects were seen flying due south with no sound and appeared to be trailing fire. When first observed they seemed to stand still, then began to move, from horizon to horizon. Three people saw them, two civilians and one military passenger, all riding in a car.
They stopped the car and got out, and one observer took a series of five color slides. The Air Force reviewed the case, but the evaluation section of the scanned card is difficult to read, with a balloon choice visible among the options.
An observer questionnaire is attached but is badly degraded in the scan. The pages supplied do not describe the slides or any analysis of them.
RESEARCHER’S NOTES
Toledo 1952: Five Slides and No Analysis
- The slides: Five color slides are rare for the period and are the case’s main asset. The file does not record whether anyone examined them.
- Six objects: A group of six objects trailing “fire” and first appearing stationary is consistent with distant lights, possibly balloons, a point the card leans toward.
- Mixed witnesses: A military passenger among the three adds weight to the report.
- Scan quality: The evaluation boxes and questionnaire are partly illegible, so the official conclusion cannot be stated firmly.
Toledo has photographs but no analysis in the record supplied. It stays an open entry until the slides or a clearer card turn up.
“Objects seemed to be trailing fire and flew from horizon to horizon.”
— Blue Book record card summary, Toledo, Ohio, October 23, 1952 (OCR)
