The Light That Passed Under a Weather B-29 at Shemya

The B-29 was out on a "Loon Able" weather reconnaissance flight on the night of 29 March 1949. An engine had been feathered, so it stayed over Shemya to burn off fuel. At about 22:05 and somewhere between 2,100 and 2,500 feet the crew saw a lighted object pass about 100 feet beneath them. Semichi tower knew only of a Northwest Airlines aircraft that was departing. At about 22:55 a blue-white light "like an exhaust" passed some 1,000 feet overhead as the bomber turned at 5,000 feet. The pilot was First Lieutenant James S. Gist. He put its speed at 500 to 600 mph in level flight. In his view that ruled out a meteor. First Lieutenant Robert A. Dittmar was the weather observer, and he timed this second pass at 22:36. A pilot balloon was released soon afterwards, and Dittmar said the light bore no resemblance to it. At about 23:30 Staff Sergeant William A. Brown saw something cross at about 5,000 feet and 500 mph from the flight line, heading north.

What is on the record

Blue Book's file names three officers of the 375th Reconnaissance Squadron (VLR) Weather: Gist, Dittmar and First Lieutenant Floyd M. McAllister. It also names Brown, the assistant line chief of the 5021st Air Base Squadron. His sighting came about half an hour after the bomber's second one. The Project 10073 record card dates the event 29 March 1949 and gives two numbered conclusions: first "Aircraft", then "Astro (METEOR)".

The file carries its own tension. Gist reasoned that a light in steady level flight was no meteor. Dittmar compared it with the balloon and found no likeness. The card still settles on an aircraft and a meteor. Outside the file the NICAP database lists the case as a Blue Book Unknown under the line "Bombers see a dull-yellowish light flying at 2,400 ft".

Why it sits where it does

L4 · OFFICIAL RECORD: a released government record names who saw it. The Air Force's file identifies four men, Gist, McAllister, Dittmar and Brown, and it is the only source the archive has for them. The tier grades that sourcing. Aircraft and meteor are the card's answers, and this page does not offer a rival.