UNCLASSIFIED
11 November 1952
Chatham, England - Dover, England
I. Description of Incident
At 1615Z (local time) on 11 November 1952, approximately 40 civilians observed an object which they reported first to be oval-shaped then changing to a conical shape, then changing back to an oval shape. It disappeared in a bright flash. The color and apparent size and speed was not reported. There was no sound. The observers were located at 51°26'N-00°45'E. The object was observed to the SE and was seen several times over a five-minute period.
At 1620Z on the same day, a police sergeant and 20 police recruits observed an object described as a slowly moving small oval "nucleus" (i.e., body) brilliant reddish-white, and with a long fiery tall ten times the diameter of the main body. The observers were located at 51°05'N-01°10'E, It was first seen on the western horizon, moving to the north. The object disappeared into a heavy stratus cloud layer after being observed for ten minutes.
II. Discussion of Incident
A plot shows that the police that made the observation were 24 miles south and 29 miles west of the civilians. The civilians reported making their observation to the SE and the police stated that what they saw was west of them traveling to the north. There is a time discrepancy of five minutes in the reported times but this is not unusual since there could very well be errors in estimating the time or in a difference between two watches or clocks. It can be reasonably assumed that both parties observed the same thing.
The data received is very sketchy but indicates that the object may have been the vapor trail of a jet aircraft. More details on the sighting would be necessary before a definite conclusion can be reached, however.
III. Conclusion
Insufficient data for evaluation.16
