1948 UAP Sighting — FBI Files (D6P114)
The number of reported sightings of flying saucers increased in 1948 as the ONR launched more Skyhook balloons into the air. These balloons, carrying scientific instruments, were frequently mistaken for unidentified flying objects due to their appearance as lighted disks at high
Background
A UFO/UAP incident extracted from page 114 of 65_HS1-834228961_62-HQ-83894_Section_6, a declassified FBI vault file released by the Department of War on May 8, 2026 as part of the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE). The incident is dated 1948 and located in Unknown location.
What the file records
The number of reported sightings of flying saucers increased in 1948 as the ONR launched more Skyhook balloons into the air. These balloons, carrying scientific instruments, were frequently mistaken for unidentified flying objects due to their appearance as lighted disks at high altitudes.
Witnesses on file: civilian observers.
Status of the case
The page-level assessment recorded in the file is: identified as balloon. All records released under the PURSUE program are designated unresolved by the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office unless otherwise stated, meaning the federal government has not concluded the events were anomalous, has not concluded they were conventional, and has not ruled out either possibility. Conventional candidates for sightings of this period include experimental aircraft, weather balloons (especially the Project Mogul series), atmospheric optical phenomena, and astronomical objects.