Landrum, South Carolina, November 16, 1952
THINK ABOUTIT UFO|UAP SIGHTINGS REPORT
1952: Landrum, South Carolina, Eleven Objects on 8mm Film
Just after sunset on Sunday, November 16, 1952, eleven objects crossed the western sky near Landrum, South Carolina in a line like a string of beads. They looked burnished silver, then burning orange, and rose and fell like elevators for about twelve minutes. A witness shot about 50 feet of 8mm Kodachrome of them.
The film reached the Air Force through TRUE magazine in January 1953, with a request that it be analyzed and two duplicates made. The pages in the Blue Book file do not include an evaluation of the footage.
Date: November 16, 1952
Sighting Time: About 5:15 p.m.
Day/Night: Dusk / night
Location: Near Landrum, South Carolina, observed from a farm roadside
Urban or Rural: Rural
No. of Entity(‘s): None reported
Entity Type: Not applicable
Entity Description: Not applicable
Hynek Classification: NL (Nocturnal Light)
Duration: About 12 minutes
No. of Object(s): 11
Shape of Object(s): Not clearly described; points of light in a line
Size of Object(s): Not recorded
Color of Object(s): Burnished silver, turning burning orange
Distance to Object(s): Not recorded
Height & Speed: Over the western horizon; the objects rose and fell “like elevators”
Number of Witnesses: Multiple; one filmed the objects. Press accounts reported many callers across upstate South Carolina
Special Features/Characteristics: About 50 feet of 8mm Kodachrome shot with a Bell & Howell camera, first with a 1.5-inch telephoto lens at 16 frames per second and f/3.5, then with the regular lens at f/2.5
Case Status: Unexplained in the supplied file; no Air Force evaluation of the film appears in the pages
Source: UFOE; Blue Book file (witness letter, correspondence on the film); Charlotte Observer, November 17, 1952; AP
Summary/Description: Eleven objects in a string-of-beads line crossed the western sky near Landrum, South Carolina on the evening of November 16, 1952. They were burnished silver turning burning orange and rose and fell for about twelve minutes. A witness filmed about 50 feet of 8mm Kodachrome, later forwarded to the Air Force by TRUE magazine.
Related Cases: Same-evening reports from Florence, South Carolina on the November 16th–30th page
DETAILED REPORT
The witness letters in the file describe eleven objects over the western horizon in a line, like a string of beads. At first they looked burnished silver, then turned burning orange, and they rose and fell like elevators. The observation lasted about twelve minutes.
One witness set up an 8mm Bell and Howell camera at the roadside of a farm and shot about 50 feet of Kodachrome. He used a 1.5-inch telephoto lens at 16 frames per second and f/3.5, then switched to the regular lens at f/2.5. The exposure details are recorded in the file, which is unusual for a civilian film report.
The Charlotte Observer of November 17 reported calls from Anderson and Marion, South Carolina, with telephone switchboards swamped, and an AP item from Florence the same evening described a separate sighting. TRUE magazine, through its Keyhoe contact, submitted the film to the Air Force in January 1953 and asked for an analysis and two duplicate copies.
The supplied pages do not show what the Air Force did with the footage. Witness names in the file are partly redacted and inconsistent across documents, so none are given here.
RESEARCHER’S NOTES
Landrum 1952: A Magazine, a Roll of Kodachrome and No Answer
- The film: About 50 feet of 8mm Kodachrome with documented lens, frame rate and aperture settings gives analysts something to work with. The file shows it was submitted but not what became of it.
- Duration and number: Eleven objects over about twelve minutes is a long, countable observation, which sets it apart from brief single-light reports.
- Color change: Silver turning to orange after sunset is consistent with objects catching the last sunlight, a possibility the file does not discuss.
- Names: Witness names are partly redacted and inconsistent in the file, including a photographer variously placed in different towns, so they are omitted.
Landrum is a case with the right raw material, a long observation, many callers and a camera, and a missing last page. Until the Air Force’s analysis of the film turns up, it stays an Unexplained entry with its best evidence unexamined in the record.
“I am convinced I have seen something the likes of which I have never seen before.”
— Witness letter, Landrum, South Carolina, November 1952 (Blue Book file; OCR)
