File 013 · 12 September 1952
Flatwoods, Braxton County
Flatwoods, West Virginia, United States
Opened 9/4/2026
Ledger illustration of the file — not a photograph of the object. Ledger illustration of the report. A wooded hill of the kind the Flatwoods party climbed. — Night Ledger illustration of the file
Standing
Unidentified
On the public record, and still open. A claim, paper, or film — not a finding that it was ours, and not a finding that it was not.
What was claimed
A glowing object appeared to land on a hill. A party of children and a mother walked up and reported a tall figure in the mist.
What is on the record
This file is a working record — a report, not a verdict. Official paper, if any, is linked where we have it.
Just after dusk a group of boys in Flatwoods saw a light arc behind a hill. They fetched Kathleen May and a National Guardsman, and the party climbed through tall grass. They described a pulsing red object, an acrid metallic odor, and a tall figure with a spade-shaped head and glowing eyes that seemed to float.
Several of the witnesses became ill. A local reporter and, later, Gray Barker and Ivan Sanderson collected statements. Explanations have included a meteor, a barn owl in the vegetation, and mass panic. The odor and the sickness remain the hardest pieces for the owl story.
No photograph of the figure exists. The case lives as a written account from a small mountain town, taken down while the witnesses were still coughing.
Could this have been ours?
The known sky, that night.
Before Sputnik the known lights were planets, meteors, aircraft, and balloons. No station. No Starlink.
Always
Aircraft, balloons, meteors
Landing lights, flares, lanterns, reentries, fireballs. They are on the known sky. They do not close a file by themselves — they are what a serious look has to hold the claim against.
The known sky
None of the above land
Stations, trains, and planets do not set down in a field or leave a body. This file is a ground report. The known sky still has to be named. It does not answer the claim.
Orbit · Space — the desks for lights that are already named.
Sources
Paper on this file
Official or public documents that belong with this case — not a verdict.
Related files
Same craft, same place, same years. A neighbor in the catalogue — not a conclusion.
Same craft · Same country · April 30–May 1, 2023
Las Vegas Backyard Entities
Las Vegas, Nevada · United States
Unidentified
A family in northwest Las Vegas called 911 after a bright object fell from the sky and they observed two very tall (8–10 ft), non-human entities with large eyes and shiny skin in their backyard near heavy equipment. Multiple family members corroborated the account to responding officers. Police bodycam footage captured the initial sky sighting and the family's terrified statements. Officers search
Same craft · Same country · August 6, 1977
Tom Dawson and the White Humanoids
Pelham, Georgia · United States
Unidentified
Retired automobile salesman Tom Dawson, 63, encountered a circular craft that landed near a pond while walking his dogs. He was paralyzed, along with his dogs and nearby cattle. Seven white-skinned humanoids (some nude, some in shimmering suits) with pointed ears and no necks emerged, examined him with devices, and a voice claiming to be Jimmy Hoffa was heard from the craft.
Same craft · Same country · August 1976
Allagash waterway
Allagash Wilderness Waterway, Maine · United States
Unidentified
Four friends on a canoe trip described a large light, missing time, and later, under hypnosis, a shared examination. The hypnosis is the contested part.
Same craft · Same country · January 29, 1976
Johnny Sands Blimp-Shaped Craft Encounter
Las Vegas, Nevada · United States
Unidentified
Country singer Johnny Sands observed a large blimp-like craft and was approached by two bald humanoids with gill-like features who communicated with him before departing. He reported the event publicly and to investigators.
Same craft · Same country · January 29, 1976
Johnny Sands Desert Encounter
Las Vegas · United States
Unidentified
Country-western singer Johnny Sands reported seeing a 60-foot blimp-shaped craft with portholes while driving on Blue Diamond Road. Two humanoid figures approached him, questioned him about his presence and humanity's nuclear activities, issued a warning, and departed. Sands was interviewed by researchers and media shortly after; the case was examined by APRO during the 1973-1976 flap period.
Same craft · Same country · 29 January 1976
Johnny Sands, Blue Diamond Road
Blue Diamond Road, near Las Vegas · United States
Unidentified
A country singer said his car died on the desert road and two bald figures in one-piece suits approached. APRO took the statement; it remains a single-witness claim.