Full Description & Details

My father and I saw this UFO in the summer of 1947. My father was 47 years old. I was 17. We were about to get into his car when he glanced up and said, "What the heck is that?" When I looked up I'm sure my mouth dropped open. There was a round object just sitting above us. I say it was luminous as though the sun was being reflected off its surface. Later we agreed that there was no way to tell if the object was round such as a globe or round and perhaps flattened like a saucer. Looking up it just seemed round. There was no way to judge the altitude, but it was low enough to clearly identify it as something which neither of us had ever seen before. (or since)

It looked solid and it was not moving. I remember my father holding up his arm with his thumb outstretched and saying to me, "With my arm up like this, I can cover the whole thing with my thumb." I remember thinking that it looked about as big as a penny, but that is of course very subjective. There were a few clouds in the sky being moved by the upper winds, however there was no apparent drift by the object. It simply remained in the same position for approximately ten minutes. It then moved in a direction away from us, gained speed and altitude at what seemed like an accelerating pace and within about ten seconds it reached an altitude where it was no longer visible. I remember my dad still staring at the sky and saying, "Wow, I wonder what that thing really is." We lived in a rural area and in later conversations with some of the neighbors could not locate anyone who had seen the thing. My dad asked me to tell him exactly what I saw and my impressions of it, then he told me what he saw and our memories about this incident coincided exactly. I started scanning the sky a lot more frequently after that, however, I have never seen anything like that since. WSL

Witness Background

I had 28 years of active military service, worked with the Navy department as a civilian for 16 more years and have been retired since 1993. I currently work as a volunteer at the Virginia Air and Space Center in Hamption, Virginia. I have studied in numerous fields and was lucky enough to work for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for a few years just prior to and during the Apollo missions.

Other Comments

I personally do not belive the earth has ever been visited by space aliens. There is simply no reason why a species of alien who can master interstellar travel would come to our little galaxy, go two thirds of the way out on one of the spiral arms, seek out our tiny, inconspicuous solar system and then decide that our earth was worth a visit. I must say or course it is not outside the realm of possibility, however, the probability must be on the order of billions to one against such a visit. I would give anything if it were true because I also believe our destiny is out there among the stars.

SOMETIME, IN THE NOT UNFORSEEABLE FUTURE, WE HUMANS WILL STAND ON THE FRONTIERS OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM AND FACE THE STARS. EITHER WE WILL STEP BACK, CONTENT TO LIVE OUT THE FUTURE ALONE, DENYING THE SPIRIT THAT BROUGHT US THUS FAR...OR WE WILL GO ON TO THE STARS. WHICH IS IT TO BE?

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