The Flashing Light Watched from Greenville AFB's Tower

M/Sgt T. O. Cooper saw it first, from his window at 21:45 CST on 27 August 1953. It was star-like and seemed to rotate as it flashed green and red in turn. It drifted slowly north and downward until cloud hid it at 22:35. Cooper called the base. From 22:30 to 23:00 Capt. William D. Lehman of the 3505th Pilot Training Group, A/1C A. E. Arceneaux of the AACS squadron and Airman H. H. MacDonell watched a similar circular light from the Greenville AFB control tower. It sat south-west of the tower, "hovering on the horizon" and flashing red, green and white. They watched it by eye and through 7x50 binoculars as it moved very slowly west and faded. The whole watch ran to about 23:30. They estimated its height at 5,000 to 6,000 ft.

What is on the record

Project Blue Book lists the case as Unknown #2692. Memphis control and base operations reported no aircraft in the area, and no weather balloons were up. MATS Flight Service said its lack of investigative capability prevented any valid conclusion. Berliner and Sparks count it among the Blue Book Unknowns, and NICAP, Eberhart and Johnson also list it.

The description is of a point of light low on the horizon that flashed colours and drifted slowly before it faded. A bright star twinkling near the horizon would fit it, though the file does not raise that possibility. The height estimate is the observers' own.

Why it sits where it does

L4 · OFFICIAL RECORD — a released government record names who saw it. The four named, Cooper, Lehman, Arceneaux and MacDonell, were all Air Force men. Every account in the archive comes from inside the file. The level reflects how the case is sourced, not whether it is true. What hung on the horizon at Greenville is not resolved here.