Chiles-Whitted Encounter
1948 close pass by a wingless, cigar-shaped object reported by airline pilots
| Chiles-Whitted Encounter | |
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| Date | July 24, 1948 |
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| Location | near Montgomery, Alabama, U.S. |
| Type | Sighting |
| Investigation | |
| Key witnesses | Clarence Chiles and John Whitted, Eastern Air Lines pilots |
| Status | Unexplained |
Two experienced Eastern Air Lines pilots reported a close pass by a wingless, cigar-shaped craft with a row of lit windows and a rocket-like exhaust, an account corroborated in general terms by at least one ground witness in a nearby town.
Assessment
Project Sign investigators initially favored a meteor-fireball explanation, though the pilots’ detailed description of structured features (windows, a smooth fuselage) is considered a poor match for a meteor by many researchers; the case remains among the more credible-witness unexplained reports of the early Air Force investigation period.
[1]See also
References
- ^ Project Sign case file on the Chiles-Whitted encounter (declassified).