The Discs Below the Airliner
Flying over Virginia at night, two airline pilots saw six glowing red discs race beneath them in a line, then flip on edge and reverse direction.
What was reported
On the evening of 14 July 1952, the pilots of a Pan American DC-4, William Nash and William Fortenberry, were flying towards Norfolk at 8,000 feet. They saw six bright red-orange discs, in a tight line, approaching far below them at enormous speed.
The discs slowed, flipped on their edges, reversed direction sharply and were joined by two more, before shooting off and blinking out. The pilots reported it as soon as they landed, and the Air Force interviewed them the next morning.
Explanations offered
Suggestions included searchlights, reflections and aircraft, but none fitted the speed and the sharp turns the pilots described. Project Blue Book left the case unexplained. It came days before the famous radar sightings over Washington, D.C.
- When
- 14 July 1952
- Where
- Over Chesapeake Bay, near Newport News, Virginia, USA
- Witnesses
- Two Pan Am pilots
- Status
- Unidentified
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
More from Virginia