FBIUnknown

Birmingham, Alabama mass sightings — hundreds of observers, round discs at high speed — July 1947

Jul 6, 1947Birmingham, Alabama2,000 ft

⟳ Deeper read pending. This record is from the FBI 62-HQ-83894 flying-disc file, whose cursive, clippings and faint scans are under-read by automated OCR. It is flagged for a vision-transcription pass and likely undercounts what the source contains — see the documents collection note.

Analysis — our summary

Multiple Air Defense Command intelligence reports document mass sightings over Birmingham, Alabama on July 6, 1947. Hundreds of observers reportedly witnessed round disc-shaped objects traveling southwest at approximately 2,000 feet altitude at estimated speeds of 500-600 mph. Staff Sergeant Irn L. Livingston reported seeing 7-10 of the objects. The objects had a dim glow. Reports were collected by Air Defense Command and forwarded through intelligence channels to Army Air Forces headquarters.

As reported — verbatim from the document

“Hundreds of observers reported round discs traveling southwest at approximately 2,000 feet altitude at 500-600 mph; SSgt. Livingston reported 7-10 objects.”

Analyst notes — caveats & confidence

Multiple independent witnesses including military personnel. Mass civilian sighting events are harder to dismiss but also more susceptible to mass suggestion in 1947's 'flying saucer' media climate. Speed estimates at those altitudes by ground observers are inherently imprecise. OCR quality is moderate.

Provenance

Source document65_HS1-834228961_62-HQ-83894_Serial_130.pdf

Document typeintelligence report collection

Reporting agencyFBI

Source pages126

DeclassifiedFirst public at this release (2026)

Held classified~79 years (≥, to this release)

Extraction confidence ModerateHow cleanly this record could be parsed from the source — driven by legibility & redaction. It is not a measure of how credible or anomalous the sighting is.