Workers at the Weather Bureau in Richmond, Virginia, pointed a measuring instrument skyward. Through it, they watched objects they couldn’t identify. The sightings took place on four occasions in 1947.
The instrument was a theodolite, used to aim at and measure distant objects. The Richmond reports came several months before stories about flying saucers appeared in American newspapers. A year later, the US Air Force still couldn’t determine what the workers had seen and raised the possibility that the objects had come from the Soviet Union.
Discs, Not Balloons
An Air Force study written in December 1948 examined reports of flying objects from across the United States. It covered about 210 sightings. Those who reported them included pilots and people with experience in aviation and observation.
The study also addressed the Richmond report. According to its analysis, some kind of object had been seen, but the information provided wasn’t enough to identify it. The document said the objects seen there were probably disc-shaped, not balloons. But their shape didn’t answer the question of what had crossed the sky.
Did They Come From the Soviet Union?
The researchers proposed two broad possibilities for the objects’ origin: American technology or foreign technology. If the source was foreign, they thought the possibility of Soviet activity deserved serious consideration.
They mentioned scientific or military activity, or intelligence gathering. This wasn’t an answer they had found, but a possibility they recommended investigating. The study raised that possibility alongside the simple question that remained open: What had the people looking up seen?
What Remains Unknown
It’s not known what the objects over Richmond were or where they came from. The study suggested ordinary explanations, such as weather balloons, rockets, or aircraft, but didn’t determine that any of them fit the sightings.
Four times, the theodolite pointed skyward. The objects were seen, but never identified.
