Chiles-Whitted UFO encounter

The Chiles-Whitted UFO encounter occurred at approximately 2:45 AM on July 24, 1948, in the skies near Montgomery, Alabama, United States.^[1] Two commercial pilots, Clarence S. Chiles and John B. Whitted, claimed to have observed a "glowing object" pass by their plane before it appeared to pull up into a cloud and travel out of sight.^[2]

According to United States Air Force (USAF) officer and Project Blue Book supervisor Edward J. Ruppelt, the Chiles-Whitted sighting was one of three "classic" UFO incidents in 1948 that convinced the personnel of Project Sign, Blue Book's predecessor, "that UFOs were real", along with the Mantell UFO incident and the Gorman dogfight.^[3] However, later studies by Air Force and civilian researchers indicated that Chiles and Whitted had seen a meteor, possibly a bolide, and in 1959 Project Blue Book formally stated that a meteor was the cause of the incident.^[4]

^ Peebles, p. 22
^ Peebles, pp. 22-23
^ Ruppelt, p. 45
^ Menzel, p. 113

[Peebles_22-1] Peebles, p. 22

[Peebles_22-23-2] Peebles, pp. 22-23

[3] Ruppelt, p. 45

[Menzel_113-4] Menzel, p. 113

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]