Dept. of DefenseUnresolvedAmbiguous
Multi-colored fireball at 20,000 ft — Central US, Feb 1946
Feb 18, 1946Approx. 39°N 100°W, southeast of Limon, Colorado (approx.)20,000 ft
Analysis — our summary
A B-29 crew of the 28th Bombardment Group (VH) observed a large multi-colored ball of fire trailing dense smoke at approximately 20,000 ft at 1500 MST on February 18, 1946, near 39°N/100°W. The object was approximately 100 miles southeast of the aircraft, traveling at very high speed toward the southeast. Accurate size determination was impossible due to distance.
As reported — verbatim from the document
“"A huge multi-colored ball of fire trailing a dense cloud of smoke...sighted at approx 1500 hours MST 18 Feb 46, 39° N-100° W at approx 20,000 ft by a B-29 aircraft of the 28th Bombardment Group (VH)."”
Analyst notes — caveats & confidence
OCR quality is very poor; many surrounding incident fields (size, duration, construction) are illegible. Approximate coordinates are as recorded in the document. Confidence lowered due to heavy OCR degradation.
Provenance
Source document38_143685_box7_Incident_Summaries_101-172.pdf
Document typeincident summary compilation
Reporting agencyDept. of Defense
Source pages178
DeclassifiedFirst public at this release (2026)
Held classified~80 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.