4.07.2024

August 12, 1951 - South of Birmingham, Alabama

The source of this information comes from the Blue Book files.

The Blue Book file

The Blue Book file contains multiple observations by ground observers. The pilot’s sighting is only briefly mentioned. This is the pertinent entry:

Birmingham control tower was alerted by base operations at the time of the sighting. Birmingham control tower made contact with inbound Delta Flight 126X (Cargo flight) who reported seeing a bright streak of light 35 miles southwest of Birmingham. Upon departure from Birmingham to Meridian, Mississippi, Flight 126X from 5 minutes south of Fairfield?(Illegible) what appeared to be twin streaks of light at a very high altitude descending at a 45 degree angle and traveling at a very high rate of speed from east to west. The time was 0033 Central Standard Time 12 August 1951. Captain XXXX, Delta Airlines, Municipal Airport, Atlanta Georgia was in command of the

flight.

The rest of the file mentions multiple observations by individuals in the region stating they had seen objects that would fade in and out and move, for the most part, in a NE to SW or North to South.

Analysis

Blue Book determined these observations were from the Perseid meteors shower. Most of the observations appear to be of Perseid meteors. The observations of the Delta flight was also probably of Perseid meteors. The maximum of the Perseid meteor shower is usually on the night of the 11th to 12th. The direction of the radiant was from the Northeast most of the night. While the direction listed was East to West, I don’t consider that too much of a difference.

The Perseid meteor shower is often considered the best meteor shower of the year. Rates are often around 50 an hour or greater on the night of maximum. The shower often has bright meteors and fireballs. Seeing two or more meteors a few seconds apart on the night of maximum is not unusual.

Conclusion

I would classify this as a probable Perseid meteor observations. The objects were briefly seen and they appeared to travel in straight lines. These are the characteristics of meteors. To add to the confirmation, the direction of travel was like a Perseid and they were seen on the night of maximum activity. There is no reason to classify these as anything but meteors. The sighting needs to be removed from the Weinstein Catalog.

Quelle: SUNlite 4/2024