THINK ABOUTIT UFO|UAP ENCOUNTER REPORT

1952: Fayetteville, Georgia

Lt. James Allen and the Blimp-Shaped Object That Killed His Radio

At about 7:40 p.m. on October 31, 1952, four miles south of Fayetteville, Georgia, USAF Lt. James Allen was driving when he saw an orange, blimp-shaped object, about 80 feet long and 20 feet wide, appear to the north at treetop level only about 600 feet away. It closed on him at roughly 60 to 70 mph, and as it crossed directly over his car at about 500 feet his car radio faded out.

He stopped and got out, watching the object linger overhead for about 20 seconds. Then it pointed its nose up at a 45-degree angle, accelerated, and climbed out of sight in 30 to 40 seconds to the east, just to the right of that night’s full moon, moving at what he described as tremendous speed. At the same hour, elsewhere in Fayetteville, Lt. Col. Charles Smith, Jr. independently reported a similar object with the same radio interference effect.

Date: October 31, 1952

Sighting Time: 7:40 p.m.

Day/Night: Night

Location: 4 miles south of Fayetteville, Georgia

Urban or Rural: Rural

No. of Entity(‘s): None reported

Entity Type: Not applicable

Entity Description: Not applicable

Hynek Classification: CE-II (a physical effect, the car radio fading out, on close approach)

Duration: About 20 seconds stationary overhead, then 30–40 seconds to climb out of sight

No. of Object(s): 1 (plus a second object reported independently by Lt. Col. Charles Smith, Jr. elsewhere in Fayetteville at the same time)

Shape of Object(s): Blimp-shaped

Size of Object(s): About 80 feet long, 20 feet wide

Color of Object(s): Orange

Distance to Object(s): About 600 feet when first seen; about 500 feet overhead at closest approach

Height & Speed: Treetop level, closing at about 60–70 mph; climbed out at tremendous speed after a 45-degree nose-up pitch

Number of Witnesses: 2 (Lt. James Allen and, independently, Lt. Col. Charles Smith, Jr., elsewhere in Fayetteville)

Special Features/Characteristics: Car radio faded out as the object passed overhead, an electromagnetic effect reported by both witnesses independently; the object hovered briefly before a steep, high-speed climb-out near the full moon

Case Status: Unexplained

Source: Brad Sparks catalog; NICAP website; J. Allen Hynek, “The UFO Report,” pp. 191–2

Summary/Description: USAF Lt. James Allen watched an 80-foot orange, blimp-shaped object pass directly over his car at about 500 feet near Fayetteville, Georgia, killing his car radio, before it climbed away at tremendous speed; Lt. Col. Charles Smith, Jr. independently reported a similar object with the same radio effect in Fayetteville at the same time, October 31, 1952.

Related Cases: Other late-October file cases on the October 22nd–31st page

DETAILED REPORT

Lt. James Allen, a USAF officer, was driving four miles south of Fayetteville, Georgia at about 7:40 p.m. on October 31, 1952, when he saw an orange, blimp-shaped object appear to the north at treetop level, about 600 feet away. It was roughly 80 feet long and 20 feet wide. The object closed on his position at an estimated 60 to 70 mph.

As it crossed directly over his car, at a height of about 500 feet, his car radio faded out. He pulled over, got out, and watched the object linger overhead for about 20 seconds. It then pitched its nose up to about 45 degrees, accelerated, and climbed away to the east at tremendous speed, disappearing from sight in 30 to 40 seconds just to the right of that night’s full moon, at an azimuth of about 96 degrees and an elevation of about 35 degrees.

At the same hour, 7:40 p.m., Lt. Col. Charles Smith, Jr. independently reported a similar object elsewhere in Fayetteville, with the same radio-interference effect. Two military officers, in different locations, reporting the same unusual craft and the same electromagnetic effect at the same time is one of the stronger corroboration patterns in this file.

RESEARCHER’S NOTES

Fayetteville 1952: Two Officers, One Effect

• Independent corroboration: Allen and Smith were in different locations in the same town, reporting the same object type and the same radio fade-out at the same minute, without (so far as the sources given indicate) collaborating on their accounts beforehand.
• A real EM effect: A car radio failing on close approach is a physical, checkable effect rather than a subjective impression, and it is consistent with electromagnetic-interference reports from other well-documented 1950s cases.
• Officer witnesses: Both named witnesses were military officers, which the file treats as weighing in favor of a careful, trained account rather than a casual one.
• Near the full moon: The object’s final bearing, close to that night’s full moon, is noted by the source but not advanced as an explanation; a full moon does not explain treetop-level proximity or the radio effect.

Fayetteville is a strong case on the strength of its corroboration: two military officers in the same town reporting the same object type and the same electromagnetic effect within the same minute. It stays Unexplained.

“He got out of the car and watched the object linger overhead about 20 seconds, then point its nose at a 45-degree angle, accelerate and climb to disappearance in 30–40 seconds to the east.”

— Brad Sparks catalog, Fayetteville, Georgia, October 31, 1952, citing J. Allen Hynek, “The UFO Report,” pp. 191–2