333336563

fs ‘, AF FORM 112—PART | Fe E557 8fod APPROVED 1 JUNE 1948 | COUNTRY REPORT NO. (LEAVE BLA , 1869 AIR INTELLIGENCE INFORMATION REP FLYOBRPT AREA REPORTED ON j FROM (Agency) 35TH AIR DIV. ( DEF DOBBINS AFB MARIETTA, GEORGIA DATE OF REPORT DATE OF INFORMATION EVALUATION 19 June 1953 12 June 1953 _ ae Bo Capt. Henry G, Sanders Mr, W. W. Cook, Porterdale, Ga. “REFERENCES (Control number, directive, previous report, etc., as applicable) ATIAE 6-10 EB FLYOBRPT COC 570 SUMMARY: (Enter concise summary of report. Give significance in final one-sentence paragraph. List inclosures at lower left. Begin text of report on AF Form 1 12—Part II.) 1. Attached is questionnaire completed as per ATIC briefing at this Division, Questionnaire was completed by telephone. Source of original report, Mr. Cook did not actually see the object but questioned all who did and in opinion of this officer had preformed a good job of collecting the information available, Mr. Cook is the Ground Observer Post Supervisor for that area working under the Atlenta Filter Centeer,. SUBJECT -__ PREPARED BY (Officer) 2, Object described as a ball of fire was in the opinion of this officer either: a, An air craft approaching the Atlanta airport and circling to land. The airport is approximately 30 miles West of Porterdale tut an aircraft coming in on Green 6 or VFR from the NE could have been much closer, On a dark night with no moon and no clouds such as this night was described an aircraft light could have been seen from a great distance without seeing the aircraft or hearing it. Also such an approach would have taken 10 to 20 minutes, The correlation between the direction of the light and the airport is the strongest supporting fact and previous reports of a similar nature have been received making this type of erroneous observation not exactly common but at least one which has been repeated, b. A weather ballon released either from Atlanta Municipal airport or other locations, Balloons released at Atlanta and Dobbins at 03002, Wind was prevailing from the North but according to Mr. Cook was slight at Porterdale, Allowing for variances in wind and possible erroneous time reporting this could have been a balloon, Strongest factor is the "slow drift" described, According to Atlanta Weather Station balloon released at 03002 could have been over Porterdale as at 03052 a westerly wind was encountered, Balloon was lost at 03142 at 14,000 feet, According to source at Atlanta weather, a balloon could only be seen with the naked eye up to approximately 5000 feet, and if balloon had contigmed to rise at the same rate it would have been out of sight when reported, | Ko ) Fi | Py F — psilae oft0l2F he, ? USAF memo © Be wG-4ewlS MX. ‘DISTRIBUTION BY ORIGINATOR NOTE: THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS INFORMATION AFFECTING THE NATIONAL DEFENSE OF THE UNITED STATES WITHIN THE MEANING OF THE ESPIONAGE ACT, 50 U. S,C.— 31 AND 32. AS AMENDED. ITS TRANSMISSION OR THE REVELATION OF ITS CONTENTS IN ANY MANNER TO AN UNAUTHORIZED PERSON IS PROHIBITED BY LAW. IT MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED IN WHOLE OR IN PART, BY een THAN UNITED STATES AIR FORCE AGENCIES, EXCEPT BY PERMISSION OF THE DIRECTOR OF INTELLIGENCE, USAF. Spcundai SRORMADLOR — (CLASSIFICATION) 16—55569-1 U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE Declassification Authority: NND 57565