← Declassified UAP case filesDOW-UAP-D181DECLASSIFIED · R07

DOW-UAP-D181, Unresolved UAP Report, Catalina Island, 1949

Incident date

4/28/49

Incident location

Catalina Island, California

Agency

Department of War

Released in

R07 · 2026-10-23

File type

Document

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Key facts

Official file ID: DOW-UAP-D181
Document type: Document
Agency: Department of War
Released in: R07 · 2026-10-23
Incident date: 4/28/49
Incident location: Catalina Island, California
Coordinates: 33.3889038, -118.4239288
Pages legible: 3/3
VIRIN: 260508-D-D0360-1173

Official description

This file contains correspondence from Mr. Percy Wackey of Avalon, California to Mr. Kenneth Arnold of Boise, Idaho. Mr. Wackey relayed that his wife and another individual reported observing six objects over Catalina Island on the night of April 28, 1949. A handwritten annotation and contemporary documentation associated with the letter indicate a conclusion by the U.S. Air Force that the incident lacked sufficient data for evaluation.

✦ AI summary

This short file concerns a sighting on the night of 28 April 1949 at Avalon, Catalina Island, California. It contains a Project 10073 record card, an Air Materiel Command routing form dated May 1949, and the handwritten letter that started the case: on 1 May 1949 a resident of Avalon wrote to Kenneth Arnold in Boise, Idaho, saying that at about 8 p.m. on 28 April his wife and a school teacher saw six objects in the sky, flying singly rather than in a group, and that a few minutes later, at his daughter's home on the next street, "she and my daughter and my grandson" saw four more, all travelling in the same direction; he offered to write more if Arnold was still interested. The record card notes a civilian ground-visual sighting of six objects, each flying by alone, with no length of observation, course, photographs or physical evidence reported, and concludes "insufficient data for evaluation". A handwritten annotation on the letter reads "MCIAXS did not acknowledge this ltr".

Generated with AI from the official file — may contain errors.

▸Transcript(3 of 3 pages legible)

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[PAGE 1] PROJECT 10073 RECORD. 1. DATE - TIME GROUP: 28 April 49, 29/0400Z. LOCATION: Catalina Island, California. 3. SOURCE: Civilian. 10. CONCLUSION: INSUFFICIENT DATA FOR EVALUATION. 4. NUMBER OF OBJECTS: Six. 5. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION: Not Reported. 11. BRIEF SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS: Observer sighted six objects. Each flew by alone. 6. TYPE OF OBSERVATION: Ground-Visual. 7. COURSE: Not Reported. 8. PHOTOS: Yes [ ] No [X]. [stamp: DECLASSIFIED — Authority: NND 923007]. 9. PHYSICAL EVIDENCE: Yes [ ] No [X]. FORM FTD SEP 63 0-329 (TDE) — Previous editions of this form may be used. [PAGE 2] CONTROL NO.: Q-1216. SUBJECT: 1st Ind. DECIMAL FILE NO.: [blank]. Unknown Aerial Phenomena. Conf... [illegible handwritten number]. FOLLOW UP ON: [illegible handwritten mark] DATE: [blank]. FROM: 17th Distr, Kirtland Fld. DATED: 5/20/49. TO: IAXS [handwritten: N Mex]. NO. INCLS.: 1. RECORDING DESK: AXT-1. DATE RECORDED: 5/26/49. HOUR: 1100. [table — ROUTED TO | SUSPENSE DATE | ESTABLISHED BY (INITIALS) | DATE] 1. IAXS | N/R | [illegible handwritten initials] | [illegible handwritten date]. 2. [blank]. 3. [blank]. DATE OF REPLY: [blank]. OTHER DISPOSITION: [blank]. TRANSMITTAL — AMC FORM NO. 10-2 (20 NOV. 47) — SEE OTHER SIDE FOR REMARKS. [PAGE 3] [handwritten letter] [annotation: Catalina Island] Avalon, Calif., May 1st, 1949. Kenneth Arnold, Boise, Idaho. Dear Mr. Arnold, About 8 o'clock of the night of April 28th, my wife and a school teacher saw six objects in the sky, not in a group, but singly. A few minutes later after going to my daughter's home, on the next street and corresponding block, she and my daughter and my grandson saw four more. All traveling in the same direction. If you are still interested in flying disks, saucers etc., please let me know and I will write more in full. Respectfully, Percy E. Mackey. P.O. Box P-1. Avalon is on Catalina Island, about 25 miles from Long Beach, Calif. [annotations: MCIAXS did not acknowledge this ltr; Insufficient Data; 7-3712-18]

Generated with AI from the official file — may contain errors.

Source: U.S. Department of War / AARO — public domain · war.gov/ufo