D/FBI Correspondence Referral, 1949
- Date
- May 1948
- Place
- Cascade Mountains, Pacific Northwest (unspecified exact site), United States
- Record
- Pentagon file
- Assessment
- Not assessed
- Evidence strength
What was reported
A January 31, 1949 letter from Rev. Charles C. Barnes of Estacada, Oregon to FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, describing four narrow beams of light he saw converging over the Cascade Mountains one afternoon the prior May, with clouds forming inside the beams and an apparent explosion effect at the point of convergence lasting at least ten minutes, reaching an estimated height of about 10,000 feet. Barnes speculated it might be a government radio-beam rainmaking experiment. Hoover thanked him and forwarded the letter to the Atomic Energy Commission for whatever action was deemed appropriate.
What officials concluded
No conclusion stated
Hoover forwarded the report to the AEC as possibly relating to a military or scientific experiment, without an FBI investigation or conclusion
- Agency
- FBI
- Released in
- 123456
Evidence profile
- Yes: Visual
- No: Infrared
- No: Radar
- No: Video
- No: Photo
- No: Film
- No: Audio
- No: Night vision
- No: Other sensor
- Yes: Civilian
- No: Military aircrew
- No: Military ground
- No: Airline crew
- No: Sensor operator
- No: Law enforcement
- No: Scientist
- No: Astronaut
- No: Intelligence official
- No: Other
- Yes: Light only
- No: Orb or sphere
- No: Disc
- No: Triangle
- No: Cylinder
- No: Cube
- No: Other shape
- No: Physiological
- No: Physical trace
- No: Electromagnetic
- No: Sound
- No: Silent
Why this rating Single, unaided civilian visual observation of what the witness himself suspected was a mundane weather-modification experiment; no FBI investigation followed, only a referral.
As described in the file
- Witnesses
- 1 firsthand civilian witness (a minister)
- Sensors
- Visual (unaided)
- Shape
- Four narrow beams of light converging, with small clouds forming inside them
- Motion
- Stationary convergence point with an apparent explosion effect
- Duration
- Visible for at least 10 minutes or longer
- Altitude or range
- Explosion effect estimated to rise to about 10,000 feet
Pentagon files
FBI-UAP-D011, D/FBI Correspondence Referral, 1949
Open the original on war.gov
What the file claims
- Unverified
The witness reported four beams of light converging over the Cascade Mountains with an apparent explosion effect visible for over ten minutes.
- Unverified
The witness himself proposed the beams might be a wartime-era radio-beam rainfall experiment he recalled reading about.
On the map
44.50° N, 121.80° W, plotted at the centre of the region named in the record
Show on the map