November 5, 1957 Aiken, Georgia

This case is listed in the November 1957 “flap” chronology, which states:

Bright yellowish cigar-shaped object observed twice, finally disappeared over horizon.1

There is no reference and the only time listed is as “night”. Despite this limited information, one can find more details from other sources 

Blue Book file

Project Blue Book had a case file for this incident. It seems that NICAP got the city correct but Aiken is actually in South Carolina. Loren Gross also has a newspaper clipping from the Augusta Chronicle in his UFO history for the time period.2 It was an AP article so I also found it on the front page of the Florence, SC newspaper of November 6. Unfortunately, many of the particulars are missing in both versions. The incident described came from a witness by the name of J.T. James:

J. T. James of near Aiken told the Chronicle’s Bureau there that he saw the object twice tonight.

James also described it as “cigar-shaped.” He said it appeared to be hovering about 15 miles south of Aiken the first time he saw it. Looking on with him, he added, were his wife, their children and two or three neighbors.

James said the object would appear “very bright, then change to amber color and go out completely occasionally.”

He said the second time he viewed it, the object had changed its position entirely and appeared to be in the direction of Augusta.

He said he and his family used a set of binoculars, watching the object until it disappeared over the horizon.3

Fortunately, the ATIC file contains additional information that allows a proper analysis of the incident4:

The weather was 5/10ths coverage

The two times of observation were 1830-1900 and 1910-2007. 

The first observation was with the naked eye and the second was with five-power binoculars.

The observer stated it was clear during the first observation but broken clouds during the second.

The observer described the object as cigar-shaped and the size of a pea. 

It was bright white (like a neon light) and changed to red, followed by amber as it disappeared.

There were two bright white spots on the side of the object when viewed with binoculars.

The observer described a long tail, which were three blue streaks about the same size as the object itself. The witness thought they were flames coming from the object. 

First observation: 45 degrees elevation 210 degrees azimuth.

Second observation: 30 degrees elevation 210 degrees azimuth.

The object was mostly stationary but appeared to make radical and darting movements.

Analysis

The Blue Book file appears to have the same witness and they determined it to be the planet Venus. On the date in question, Venus was an evening sky object, was magnitude -4.4, and was 22” of arc across (55% illuminated). Therefore, it is a prime candidate for the UFO. The witness did not mention seeing Venus nearby and his UFO disappeared about the same time Venus set. 

We don’t know the quality of the binoculars used by the witness or if they knew how to focus them properly. Witnesses have been known to describe planets and stars in this manner even when using optics. The fact that there was some cloud cover that night explains why the witness lost sight of it for ten minutes between the first and second observation. 

As for the azimuth and elevation differences, these are not that significant. The witness even admitted the object disappeared over the horizon at the end of the second observation indicating his elevation was probably an overestimation. Venus set shortly after he lost sight of his UFO. The witness also stated that the object was seen in the direction of Augusta during his second observation. The line of sight from downtown Aiken to the center of Augusta was an azimuth of 250 degrees. Therefore, his azimuth estimate of 210 was probably not very accurate and more in line with the direction of Venus. 

Conclusion

I can see no reason to reject the Venus explanation for this case. All of the positional data is a reasonable match with Venus. Additionally, the witness never reported seeing Venus near his UFO. This case should be classified as “Probably Venus” and removed from the “UFO evidence” category.

Quelle: SUNlite 6/2021