June 24, 1950 Cal/Nev UFO Newspaper Accounts
June 23 southern fireball newspaper accounts

Sighting Reports from Southern California

The UFO Evidence, Richard Hall, ed. , 1964

     The crews of two commercial airliners and a Navy transport sighted a cigar-shaped object about 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles, Calif.  The pilot of the Navy plane (name confidential) spent 22 years in Naval aviation and now is a project administrator with a West coast electronics firm.  He was alerted by a United Airlines pilot who had seen the object and they both discussed the matter with CAA (now FAA) ground stations at Daggett and Silver Lake, Calif. The co-pilot of the Navy plane was the first to see it, and pointed it out to the pilot and Navigator.
     The pilot described the object as cigar-shaped, dark gray or gunmetal in color and giving off a faint shimmering heat radiation appearance at the tail end.  He judged its apparent size as about 1/8th of the full moon [about 4 minutes of arc)Estimated altitude 50,000-100,000 feet, speed 1000-1500 mph, for the three minutes it was in view.  At first it was traveling north, but then turned west presenting a tail end view as it sped out of sight. 

Signed report on file at NICAP.  (Case certified by Paul Cerny, Chairman, Bay Area NICAP Subcommittee )


Washington Post, Wed. June 28, 1950

New Saucer Story:  Flying Cigar seen By 30 on Airliner

     Los Angeles, June 27 (AP)--United Airlines today disclosed the latest flying saucer report:
     First Officer David Stewart of Redondo Beach, Calif., today told a news conference that his crew of five and some 25 passengers watched a brilliantly-glowing object speed through the desert sky Saturday night.
     Stewart said the object was more cigar-shaped than the previously reported pancake-shaped "saucers."
     He said his ship was flying at 14,000 feet and that the object flew a parallel course for 20 miles and then faded into the distance.


Los Angeles Times, Wed. June 28, 1950

Strange 'Ship' Reported Seen High Over Desert

     Latest report of a mysterious flying "object" was given here yesterday by two United Air Lines pilots who described what they sighted at 8:08 p.m.  (PST) last Saturday [June 24] while flying between Las Vegas and the Silver Lake check point eight miles north of Baker.
     The object was somewhat cylindrical in shape, rather like a dirigible, according to Cpt. E. L. RemlinFirst Officer David Stewart and Capt. Sam B. Wiper, an observer aboard the UAL Mainliner.
     It had a bluish center with a bright orange tint and was flying horizontally at about 20,000 feet, much faster than the transport, the three pilots said.
     They added it appeared to be about 20 miles distant, but admitted that altitude, distance, and speed could not be accurately judged without knowledge of the object's size.    
Also Seen by Others
      The fliers said the strange "ship--if ship it was--was also seen by Las Vegas CAA men and reported by an Air and a Navy plane in the general area.
     "Was it a saucer?" Capt. Remlin was asked.
     "I wouldn't know," he grinned.  "I've never seen a saucer."


Las Vegas Review-Journal, Wed. June 28, 1950, p. 8

'Strange Object' Is Seen in South Nevada Sky Saturday

     LOS ANGELES, June 28 (UP) Two veteran airline pilots said today they and a number of other persons saw a blazing, dirigible-like phenomenon trailing streams of light in the skies over Nevada.
     Neither First Officer David Stewart, who's been flying 13 years, or Captain Sam B. Wiper identified the object as a flying saucer, which the Air Force insists does not exist.
     "But I've never seen anything in the skies that remotely resembled what I saw Saturday night," Stewart said.
     The United Airliner was at an altitude of 14,000 feet when Steward saw the object, much higher in the sky.  He said it also was seen by other crew members and the 50 passengers, stations at Las Vegas and Silver Lake, California, to whom the plane radioed for confirmation, and an army plane and navy plane in the vicinity.
     "We know all about jets and vapor trails and optical illusions," Wiper said.  "This thing was there."


San Francisco Call-Bulletin, June 28, 1950, p. 13

Pilot Tells of 'Saucer'

     LOS ANGELES, June 28 (INS) The five man crew of a United Airlines plane and many of the 50 passengers aboard reported today they had sighted a brilliantly lighted "flying saucer" high in the northern sky while on a flight from Denver to Los Angeles last Saturday.
     First Officer David Stewart, veteran pilot, said the strange object in the night sky was plainly visible for 10 minutes as it streaked over southern California.
     The officer said the orange and blue object was soaring at an altitude of about 80,000 feet.
     Stewart said all members of the crew saw the object, and that half of the passengers saw it.  The officer declared:
     "When we first sighted the thing, it looked like a brilliantly lighted number '3.'  Then when it appeared to be moving at a tremendous speed it changed into a dirigible like shape."
     He said a Navy plane and an Army plane in the same vicinity also reported seeing the object.


Riverside (CA) Daily Press, June 28, 1950, p. 1

Pilots Reaffirm Sighting Object

     LOS ANGELES, June 28, (UP)--Two airline pilots insisted today that they saw a brilliant, blue and orange object shaped like a dirigible moving over southern Idaho [sic].
     Capt. Sam B. Wiper and First Officer David Stewart said at a news conference that the phenomenon couldn't have been an optical illusion.  They said it also was sighted by their planeload of passengers, by observers at Las Vegas, and Silver Lake, and by Air Force and Navy pilots on Monday [sic] night.
     The blazing object, which neither would identify as a flying saucer, was about 60,000 feet high and 30 miles from them, they said.  Stewart said long trails of light streamed from it.
     "Let's get this straight," Stewart said.  "I've been flying since 1937, but I've never seen anything in the skies that remotely resembled what I was the other night."
     The lights looked fluorescent, the flyers said, and seemed to flash like a theater marquee.  Passengers were asked to look, but no attempt was made to associate the sight with flying saucers.
     "We know all about jets and vapor trails and optical illusions," Captain Wiper said.  "This thing was there."


Riverside (CA) Daily Press, June 28, 1950, p. 4

Silver Lake Pair Report Another 'Flying Saucer'

     The latest flying saucer report comes from Silver Lake airport, near Baker, in the San Bernardino County desert area.
     Two aircraft communicators, L. M. Norman, and R. E. Connor, at Silver Lake reported they watched a brilliantly-glowing object speed through the desert sky for nearly 10 minutes Saturday night before it disappeared on the western horizon.
     Their report was confirmed by crew members and 25 passengers of a United Airlines plane, and by aircraft communicators at a station in Las Vegas, Nev.  They said the object was more cigar-shaped than the previously reported pancake-shaped "saucers."
     The fiery object, which left a large luminous vapor trail, was observed not only by the two communicators at Silver Lake, but also by four pilots who had stopped at the airport for the night.


Sightings Reported in Nevada

Goldfield (NV) News and Beatty (NV) Bulletin, June 30, 1950, headline story

Two Local Residents Report Observing
'Mystery Flame' over Northern Skies
Believed to Have Been Caused by A Flying Saucer
CHAS. CAVANAUGH ALSO WITNESSES PECULIAR SIGHT

     The possibility that two Beatty residents may have actually seen a flying disc was being discussed excitedly here this week.  The witnesses are W. H. (Brownie) Brown and Claude Looney.
"We were traveling up into Cherry creek on a fishing trip, about 90 miles east of Warm Springs, when we saw a strange light in the sky to the north," Brownie related.  He described it as "a spiral affair, almost like a corkscrew."
      It was apparently caused by some object flying at a tremendous altitude, the vapor trail of which "lit up the whole northern sky."
     Brownie said that he first sighted the strange light at 9:05 Saturday evening, and that he and Looney watched it for about half an hour before it disappeared.
     His story was confirmed by many persons at widely scattered points throughout the state.  Among them was Charles Cavanaugh of Tonopah, Nye county commissioner, and his family.
     Cavanaugh described the vapor pattern as an immense "reverse E," in the center of which was a darting object of unfamiliar designCavanaugh, a licensed pilot, said that it was flying too high for a conventional aircraft, estimating its altitude at between 50,000 and 75,000 feet.
    It suddenly "took off", Cavanaugh asserted, and was lost to sight.  He first noted the object at about 9:10 p.m. [PDT?] Saturday, and watched it maneuver for about 15 minutes.
     Reports from farther upstate indicate that the craft performed almost directly above Lovelock, where it was observed by several pilots at the air field there.
     At the same time, three American Airlines transport pilots reported by radio seeing "a long, glowing vapor trail in the skies over Nevada," according to United Press."
     The airline said two of the passenger planes were flying between 18,000 and 20,000 feet over Arizona and the third at the same altitude near Bryce Canyon, Colo. [sic, should be Utah], when their pilots spotted the phenomenon.
    The pilots said the vapor trail appeared to be very high, and agree that it was over south-central Nevada.
     The Lovelock witnesses reported seeing a mysterious object come out of the southern skies, dip toward the community and then zoom north, shooting out "bright red flames" and leaving a vapor trail.  It was sighted at about 9 p.m.  The report is said to have been confirmed by Paul Gardner, editor of the Lovelock Review-Miner.
     Whether the so-called flying discs are produced and manned by the United States is still a controversial matter, although it is generally believed that they are.
     The U. S. News and World Report, in an article "based on non-secret data and responsible sources," said recently that the discs are built and operated by the U. S. Navy.
     The first successful saucer was built in 1942 and made more than 100 test flights, the report stated.  Current advanced models are circular, 105 in diameter and about 10 feet thick.  They have no protruding surfaces of any kind.  They are powered by jet engines using a secret fuel.  The power is exerted through a series of jet nozzles around the saucer's rim.
     Their performance, the magazine said, is next to unbelievable.  They can stand still in the air like a helicopter, and rise almost vertically.  Their cruising speed may be as high as 600 miles an hour.  Due to the helicopter features, they do not need conventional airfields for landing or takeoff.


The Fallon (NV) Standard, June 28

The TENDERFOOT (column)
By R. A. Pedersen

    Well, it has happened!  The “flying saucers” have been observed in Fallon.  However, in my opinion, it wasn’t a saucer, but a “flying cigar” rocket ship.
    Mrs. R. A. Pedersen (my better half) came out of the house at 9:00 p.m. Saturday night and saw a very brilliant, intense light in the northeast sky.  She called to those in the house to see.  Before we could get outside, the light, itself, has disappeared, but it had left a distinct smoke trail in the upper atmosphere.
    The smoke trail I saw was up 25,000 to 30,000 feet and was in three distinct circles, which at that altitude could have been ten miles in diameter.  The smoke lasted for five minutes or longer before it faded into the upper air.
    To me it looked as though whatever it was that made it, had turned on full power of its rocket motor in order to gain speed and, when the speed was achieved, it cut full power and then cruised.  According to my wife, the blast lasted only about a minute or so, and traveled at an unbelievable speed in making the spirals.
    According to the Sunday Journal [Nevada State Journal], the same thing was observed at Lovelock by several people at their airport.  The time given was the same and the location identical.
    There is something behind all this “flying saucer” thing.  In this months Reader’s Digest the Air Force and the Navy finally admit that there ARE such things.  Not only are there “saucers”, but also flying “cigars”, rockets that are manned with pilots.


Lovelock (NV) Review-Miner, June 29, 1950, p. 1

Ten Pilots See Flying Saucer Saturday Night

     Ten experienced pilots at the Robert Aircraft Corp. field 2 miles east of Lovelock saw a FLYING SAUCER at 9:10 p.m. Saturday--and no fooling!
     They agreed on the following description, It was thousands of feet high.  It threw out a red flame.  It dipped down then went straight up at terrific speed.  It left a vapor trail behind.  They could not tell its shape for the flame and night time.
      The CAA station at Derby Field was called to confirm the vapor trails.
     The pilots have been doing spraying and dusting work in Lovelock Valley or getting ready to take off for Oregon where they will spray 162,000 acres of spruce forest against the spruce bud worm.


Nevada State Journal, Sunday, June 25, 1950

Lovelock Fliers See Mystery Object; Maybe It's a Saucer!

     Residents of the Lovelock area last night said they saw something that they claim might have been a flying saucer--with flames.
     They reported sighting a mysterious object that came out of the southern sky at 9:00 p.m., dipped momentarily toward the community, and then zoomed north, shooting out bright red flames and leaving a vapor trail that could be seen for more than 20 minutes.
     According to Paul Gardiner, editor of the Lovelock Review-Miner, the first word of the phenomenon was received from a group of experienced pilots at the Lovelock flying field.
     He said that the entire crew of more than 30 fliers witnessed the event, saying that the flying object had no visible or describable shape, possibly because of the partly cloudy skies at the time and more so because of the intense brightness of the exhaust flames.
     The pilots report was confirmed by attendants at the Civil Aeronautics tower at Derby field 11 miles from Lovelock, who said that the vapor trail was definitely made by a mechanical, flying object.
     The pilots, none of whom cared to be identified, according to Mr. Gardner, were getting ready to fly to Oregon where they are to dust and spray fields from the air to eradicate the spreading spruce bud worm in the southwestern part of the state.  They are all employees of the Roberts Aircraft Corp. at Lovelock.
     The Lovelock editor said the fliers reported the missile streaked the air at a "terrific rate of speed" and was apparently flying at a very high altitude.


Ely (NV) Daily Times, June 26, 1950, p. 1
Eastern Nevadans See 'Phenomena'

Reno Evening Gazette, June 28, 1950, p. 11
Ely Residents See Sky Smoke

     ELY, June 28--Hundreds of residents of this section of Nevada observed a phenomena in the sky early Saturday night which has been variously described as a vapor trail, smoke from a falling airplane, or perhaps the trail of a flying saucer--the latter more or less humorously.
     The huge spiral of "smoke" was observed by residents throughout the district, and also in Pioche and other areas.  From the Ely district it was seen almost due west, and local residents surmised that it was probably as far distant as south of Austin.
     Al Bryer, Isbell engineer, observed the vapor or smoke, from the Bristol Silver mine near Pioche, and said here today that from that angle it appeared as a huge "figure three" in the sky.
     It was first seen about 8:45 p.m. Saturday, and had dissipated in about a half hour.  In Ely it was reported that the shape of the phenomena changed from a spiral shape to that of a disc before disappearing.
    As far as is known here, no planes are reported missing.

June 23, 1950 Fireball Event, Southern U.S.
(Note:  Portions in italics are parts edited out of some newspapers)


Dallas Morning News, June 24, 1950, p.1

From Alabama To Texas
White Streak in Sky Prompts Many Calls

     A brilliant white streak which had the appearance of a high-flying airplane's vapor trail was seen in the sky from Alabama to Texas during a 30-minute period Friday night [June 23].
    The streak, moving westward, was seen between 7:30 and 8 p.m. shortly after sunset.
    Persons in Dallas, Fort Worth, Abilene, New Orleans, Houston, Beaumont, and Montgomery, Ala. called newspapers, weather bureaus and air field towers for an explanation.
    Some observers said they saw a "great ball of fire" that disappeared after a few seconds leaving a white smoke or vapor trail.
   Others said they saw only they vapor trail drifting steadily westward across the sky.
    What they saw was not definitely known, but hints of an explanation came from several sources, including a jet pilot in El Paso and a spokesman at the Harvard Observatory.
    Lt. James Bryant of Roswell, N.M., said he flew a jet plane to Biggs Air Base at El Paso from Langley Field, Va.  He landed in El Paso at 8:12 p.m.  Bryant said he didn't think his plane left a vapor trail, bit if it did the setting sun's rays reflecting on the vapor and the plane could have given the illusion of fire.
    The Harvard spokesman said the descriptions sounded "like a very spectacular fireball."  He said the trail of glowing vapor fitted descriptions of meteors.  They can frequently be seen from several states at once, he said.
    The Dallas News city desk received its first call about the object at 7:35 p.m.
    "Look out your northwest window and tell me what the streak is," a woman said.  Editors and reporters left their desks to watch.
    A few minutes later another woman called to ask if an airplane had exploded over Dallas.  She said she had seen a bright fiery flash, then a trail of smoke.
    Operators in the control tower at Love Field said the object appeared to be a plane, leaving a vapor trail.
    E. N. Brewer of Dallas, president of the Texas Astronomical Society, said he saw the streak.
    "I saw a vapor trail from an airplane," he said.  "If people in New Orleans and Alabama saw something in the sky, it was just a coincidence."
    Brewer said a troop of Girl Scouts was in his back yard looking through his telescope at the time, but the streak was in a part of the sky hidden from the telescope by his house.
    Varied descriptions of the object were given to Associated Press and United Press writers over the South.
    In Jackson, Miss., City Fireman Bert Kyzar said, "It looked like a grapefruit and was spouting fire like a roman candle, and was followed by a white vapor trail.  It made a loop and then a white light came on."
    The weather observer at Moisant  International Airport in New Orleans, La., said there were theories there that it was the tail-end of a comet or the vapor trail of a high-flying aircraft.
    The observer said, "It started out like a shooting star, a blue flash, and a vapor trail appeared about five or six minutes later."
    Reports from Fort Worth said the vapor trail of a B-36 flying over the setting sun turned a spectacular gold color.
    A. E. Aime, United States weather forecaster at New Orleans, saw the object.  He said it appeared, with tremendous brilliance, in the western sky at 7:40 p.m.
    "It was more brilliant than any meteor I have ever seen," Aime said.  "It burned out in two or three seconds.  It left a long, white smoke or vapor trail, which is something else I have never seen a meteor do.
    "The way the trail gleamed white in the sky, I would say that the object must have been very high up, high enough for the sun's rays to catch the trail and illuminate it."
   The Beaumont Enterprise reported the object hurtled "directly over our newspaper building."  Hundreds of people in Beaumont said they saw a ball-shaped object shooting flames out of its side and back.
    The airport control tower at Houston said Civil Aeronautics Authority stations reported the object had been sighted at Shreveport and New Iberia, La., and Liberty, Texas.  Weathermen in Houston first sighted it at 7:35 p.m.
   "The vapor trail seemed to linger in the air longer than usual," said Cecil Jones in the Houston control tower.  "It looked like a comet."


San Francisco Call-Bulletin, June 24, p.2
'Ball of Fire' in Sky Startles Thousands

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 24, p. 3A
Fire Ball Seen in Southern Sky Credited to Sun, Jet or Meteor

    DALLAS, Tex., June 24 (AP) A ball of fire flashed across the southern sky as the sun sank last night, trailing a streamer of flame and startling thousands.
    Or did it?  Was it just a speeding plane with the sun's last red and gold rays playing tricks with its vapor trail?  Was it a real ball of fire, a meteor?  Or was it--could it have been, a flying saucer?
    What direction did it travel?  Take your choice?  East to west, or south to east.
    And where did it land?  If it was a jet plane, at El Paso, Tex.; if a meteor, perhaps in the swamps of Louisiana.
HERE ARE THE FACTS
    Or maybe there was  meteor as well as a jet.
    Here are the known facts:  A brilliant light, variously described as fire ball and a fiery streak, was seen from Montgomery, Ala., to Fort Worth, Tex., at about 7:40 p.m.  A ship 350 miles at sea from Galveston, Tex., saw it.  A similar flash was seen an hour earlier at Natchez, Miss., and about 20 minutes later at Abilene, Tex.  During this period a jet plane was whizzing over the south on a course form Langley Field, Va., to El Paso.
    Nevertheless, a Fort Worth amateur astronomer, Oscar Monnig, said he made telephone checks of the fire ball's trajectory at Monroe and Lake Charles, Las., and at Houston, Tex.  All these, he said indicated that the phenomenon was traveling southeast.  Most reports said it was moving west.
    Because a Lake Charles radioman sighted the object directly overhead, Monnig assumed the meteor "fell somewhere in the swampy coastal country south of Lake Charles."
COMET OR VAPOR TRAIL?
    The weather bureau at Moisant International Airport in New Orleans said there were theories that the fireball was either the tail end of a comet or the vapor trail of a high flying aircraft.
    At Abilene, a CAA communicator talked to the westward speeding jet at the same time a brilliant light flared there.  He suggested it probably was the sun's reflection on the plane.
   Dr. David V. Guthrie, director of the Louisiana State University astronomical observatory was sure it was a meteor.
    Take your choice.


San Diego Union, June 24, p. 1
SUN OR WHAT?
Fire Balls In Air Cause Jet Puzzle

Seattle Post-Intelligencer, June 24, p. 5
FireBalls Seen In Sky--Ala. To Tex.

    EL PASO, Tex., June 23 (AP)--People from Montgomery, Ala., to Abilene, Tex., excitedly reported seeing fire balls in the sky tonight--but the pilot whose jet plane might have caused the weird lights said he was completely in the dark about the phenomena.
    There was no way to be sure the plane had anything to do with what many people saw, but the popular explanation seemed to be that the setting sun's reflection on trailing vapor played a colorful trick on the fancies of spectators.
    Lt. James Bryant of Roswell, N.M., said he flew to Biggs Air Force base here from Langley Field, Va., where he is stationed.  At no time, said Bryant, did he see anything unusual as he zipped along at 40,000 feet.
    Bryant said he didn't think his plane left a vapor trail, but if it did the setting sun's rays reflecting on the vapor and the plane could have given the illusion of fire.
    But this left the question:  How could folks in Montgomery have seen the reflection at the same time as those in Dallas?  Between those cities, all the reports of fiery phenomena came at about the same time, 7:40 p.m.

 
New York Times, June 24, p. 30
'Ball of Fire' in the Sky is Linked to Jet Flight

By The Associated Press
    EL PASO, Tex., June 23--A jet plane landed here tonight after persons from Montgomery, Ala., to Abilene, Tex., had excitedly reported seeing a great ball of fire in the sky.
    Officers at Biggs Air Force Base here said the plane flew from Lafayette, La., at 35,000 feet.  After this announcement secrecy was imposed.
   The "fire in the sky" apparently was most spectacular over Louisiana's Gulf Coast region.  Some thought they were seeing a meteor.  Others thought it was the reflection of the sun's last red and gold rays on a vapor trail.  But there were elements of doubts in both beliefs.
    The Galveston Weather Bureau reported that ship 350 miles at sea had reported the flash.
    In New Orleans, Weather Forecaster E. A. Aime reported what "looked like a meteor."


San Francisco News, June 24, p. 1
Ball of Fire Lights Southern Sky
Residents of Four States Watch Spectacle

Los Angeles Times, June 24, p. 1
Ball of Fire Lights Sky in Four States

By United Press
    NEW ORLEANS, June 24--A great ball of fire visible to thousands of persons in four states glowed briefly high in the southern sky last night and then dissolved into a curving trail of shining vapor.
    The fiery body was seen in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, and by a plane flying 300 miles southward in the Gulf of Mexico.  Weather bureau and civil aeronautics authority officials said it glowed with extreme brilliance at tremendous height.
    Harvard observatory said descriptions sounded like those of large meteors, commonly called "fireballs," which frequently can be seen from several states at once, and which form relics for museums if found after striking earth.
    The spectacle was seen at about the same time, just after dusk, by Weather Beureau officials at Dallas and Fort Worth, Tex., and New Orleans, and by CAA and military base personal at other points.
   Hundreds of persons in dozens of cities across a 750-mile area swamped newspapers and various public officials with inquiries.
     R. M. Kiser, senior CAA traffic controller here, said the gleaming object must have been 100,000 feet high in the cloudless sky.
    At Beaumont, Tex., hundreds of witnesses said they saw a ball-shaped object streak across the city, shooting flames out of its side and back.  None heard any sound.
    Cecil Jones at the airport control tower at Houston said the object left a phosphorescent vapor trail and "looked something like a comet."
    In Jackson, Miss., city fireman Bert Kyzar said the object " looked like a grapefruit and was spouting fire like a roman candle and was followed by a white vapor trail."  He said it "made a loop."


Riverside (CA) Daily Press, June 24, p.2
Ball of Fire Puzzles Observers in South

Nevada State Journal (Reno), June 24, p. 1
Big Fire Ball Blazes Over Southern Sky

    NEW ORLEANS, June 23. (U.P.)--A great ball of fire visible for 500 miles burned for a few seconds high in the southern sky tonight and then glimmered out, leaving a curving trail of glowing vapor.
    R. M. Kiser, senior air traffic controller of the Civil Aeronautics Administration here, said the gleaming object was seen from Tuscaloosa, Ala., Houston, Tex., and a plane 250 miles southward over the Gulf of Mexico.
    In Jackson, Miss., city fireman Bert Kyzar said:
    "It looked like a grapefruit and was spouting fire like a roman candle and was followed by a white vapor trail. It made a loop and then a white light came on."
    A. E. Amie, a U. S. weather forecaster here, said he saw an object of "tremendous brilliance" in the western sky at 7:40 p.m.
   "It was more brilliant than any meteor I have ever seen," Aime said.  "It burned out in two or three seconds," he said.  "It left a long, white smoke or vapor trail, which is something else I have never seen a meteor do."
Up Very High
    "The way the trail gleamed white in the sky, I would say that the object must have been very high up--high enough for the sun's rays to catch the trail and illuminate it.
    "I never saw anything like it before, and I can't say what it is, how high it was, or how fast it was moving. It just looked like a great ball of fire."
   Kiser said the fiery body must have been as high as "100,000 feet to have been seen over such a long distance." He said the CAA instructed all its stations to submit reports.
    The Lake Charles, La., CAA station described the object as "immediately overhead."  At Houston, it was sighted to the northeast.  To other cities it appeared westward.
    That indicated a location close to Lake Charles, in southwest Louisiana.
White Light Appears
    The Jackson fireman said the object "made a hook or a loop and then a white light came on.
    "It dove down and back and then the light went out and then there was white stream of vapor about a foot wide and 50 yards long.
    "It appeared to be going about 50 to 75 miles an hour.  The light was white like an old-type lightbulb."
    The object also was spotted by the airport control tower at Jackson, Miss., and by several residents.  The airport said it definitely was not a jet plane.  The airport received reports that the object also was sighted from McComb, Miss., and Monroe, La.