S8-31 (OSI DO #17) — 1952-05-13 — Yuma Air Force Base, Arizona (Yuma County Municipal Airport

On 13 May 1952 at 0440 hours, the El Centro tower reported six bright objects moving southeast and asked Yuma tower to spot them. At 0450, S/Sgt Joseph Maylin (interview by S/A Casey on 28 August 1952) used 7x50 binoculars and sighted two bright orange round objects at 300 degrees true, invisible to the naked eye, about one foot apparent diameter, at 2,500-5,000 feet altitude. Maylin watched the objects for about 30 minutes; they moved across the sky from 290 to 305 degrees, getting further away until they disappeared. A searchlight-like beam came from one object, going on and off in different directions. Both objects had continuous short trails of flame. The weather was very clear and dark. Two Western Air Lines flights were scheduled daily; no military aircraft were airborne. Maylin had been a U.S. Coast Guard flight engineer 1943-1946 with approximately 3,000 hours flying time.

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