Source information

The Blue Book file is limited in the amount of information it provides. It consists of three pages of information. The highlights of the report are:

• The weather was clear.

• The time of the event was at 0030 local time on 23 March 1950.

• The plane was enroute from Jacksonville to Robins AFB in Georgia.

• The observers were the pilot was 1st LT J. K. Hahn of the 2104th Weather Group and a passenger, TSGT L. H. Young.

• Other personnel on the flight were the co-pilot 1st LT R. D. Putnam and flight engineer S/SGT Ruby J. Dodd.

• 1st LT Hahn saw a blue-white flame, 50-75 feet long, coming towards the aircraft at the 11 O’Clock position.

• Hahn pulled the plane towards 1 O’Clock.

• When the pilot looked back, the object had disappeared. The co-pilot and flight engineer saw nothing.

• TSGT Young was a passenger in the plane and also saw the blue-white flame approaching the aircraft. When the pilot changed direction, Young went to the other side of the plane to see if he could see the object but did not see it. It had disappeared.

• The duration of the event was not given but, based on the description, it probably lasted not much more than a few seconds.

  Analysis

  The obvious potential explanation for this sighting is a bright meteor. The object appeared suddenly and then disappeared. It seems to have been traveling on a straight line since there was no mention of it maneuvering. Because it appeared to be on a collision course, the pilot reacted as one would expect. He tried to avoid a collision. By the time he looked again, the meteor had faded out.

  Meteor records from this time period are very limited and it is impossible to positively verify. A check of the newspaper archive revealed no reports of a meteor but that is not unusual. Meteors, especially ones that appear late at night in areas not densely pop- ulated are rarely mentioned. I remember seeing two bright fireballs in the 1970s that were bright enough to cast shadows but had no mention of them in the local papers. An examination of the American Meteor Society database reveals that for the year 2022, there were 10,382 fireball reports. 6,851 (about 66%) had only one observer reporting.3 This is similar to the years of 2006-2021. This indicates that a fireball might be visible of an area but only one might report it.

  Conclusion

  This case was a probable meteor. It should be removed from the list.

Quelle: SUNlite 2/2023