{ "version": 1, "id": "1948-07-24-ChilesClarence", "image": "https://ufoathome.org/demo-data/share/chiles.jpg", "summaryTime": 3, "time": { "year": 1948, "month": 7, "day": 24, "hour": 2, "minute": 45, "second": 3 }, "durationSeconds": 7, "utcOffsetHours": -6, "place": [ { "lat": 32.3792, "lng": -86.3077 } ], "observer": { "id": "ChilesClarence", "title": "Clarence Chiles" }, "description": { "fr": "Version du commandant Clarence S. Chiles, en place gauche. Vue depuis le poste de pilotage du DC-3 à 1500 m — d'où le sol, très bas, et le ciel de nuit du 24 juillet 1948. L'objet arrive de face sur une trajectoire de collision et passe sur la droite ; Chiles vire à gauche pour l'éviter, et voit la ressource abrupte. Son compte rendu s'arrête là : d'après le recoupement de McDonald (1968), seul Whitted, en place droite, a vu la phase finale. L'objet quitte donc simplement son champ de vision après la ressource, sans que rien ne soit déclaré sur un nuage — McDonald précise que le « disparu dans la couche » des premiers interrogatoires est une reconstruction, démentie par Whitted. Distance : les deux hommes n'ont jamais pu s'accorder (l'un sous 1000 ft, l'autre plusieurs fois cela), et McDonald ne dit pas lequel disait quoi. L'enregistrement ne tranche pas, et ne le peut pas : il ne déclare que des tailles angulaires, et une distance ne s'en déduit que là où l'objet croise un élément de décor dont la position est connue — ce qu'un ciel de nuit vide n'offre nulle part. Le dessin suit le cadrage du relevé officiel (~180 m au plus près), qui reste donc un choix de mise en scène et non une affirmation du fichier. Le compte rendu est désormais joué en 3D, et c'est là, et seulement là, qu'une distance est affirmée : le corps est le cigare effilé de son propre dessin, long de 30 m, et son épaisseur — la seule mesure du dessin qui ne dépende pas de l'angle sous lequel on le voit — donne la portée à chaque instant, 706 m à l'arrivée et 183 m au plus près. La largeur du dessin dit alors de combien il s'était tourné, 20° hors de l'enfilade au premier instant et de travers à la fin, et le cap qui en découle tient à quinze degrés près tout du long : ses boîtes, qui ne disent rien d'une route, sont celles d'une chose qui en tient une seule pendant que l'avion la croise. Il ne cabre pas pendant la ressource, parce qu'il n'a rien dessiné de tel. Forme d'après le dessin que Chiles lui-même a remis au projet Sign (Blue Book, rapport n° 14, cas 5) : un cigare mince effilé aux deux bouts, sans aucun hublot, avec à l'avant la zone claire qu'il annote « pare-brise de cockpit ? ». Les nervures transversales de son croquis ne sont pas rendues : ce format dessine des formes, pas un état de surface. La flamme suit les 40 pieds que Whitted a portés sur son propre dessin, seul chiffre de observateur la concernant : Chiles n'en a annoté aucun, et rien au dossier ne dit qu'ils divergeaient là-dessus. Longueur rapportée ~30 m ; sa longueur apparente croît à mesure qu'il se présente de profil. Le virage d'évitement n'est pas reproduit : le format ne sait pas encore incliner le point de vue (roulis). L'appareil AVANCE, ce qu'un fichier qui répétait la même latitude à chaque keyframe ne disait pas : sa route porte le cap que le compte rendu donne au premier instant — l'objet arrive de face, donc ils regardent devant eux — et sa vitesse est la croisière ordinaire d'un DC-3, 288 km/h, soit 800 m de sol en dix secondes. Les deux sont ASSUMÉS : aucune source ne donne le cap ni la vitesse-sol de ce vol-là. Ce qui n'est pas assumé, c'est qu'un avion de ligne à 1500 m ne fait pas du surplace.", "en": "Captain Clarence S. Chiles's account, in the left-hand seat. Seen from the DC-3's cockpit at 1,500 m — hence the very low ground, and the night sky of 24 July 1948. The object comes head-on, on a collision course, and passes to the right; Chiles banks left to avoid it, and sees the abrupt pull-up. His account stops there: on McDonald's cross-checking (1968), only Whitted, in the right-hand seat, saw the final phase. So the object simply leaves his field of view after the pull-up, with nothing stated about a cloud — McDonald makes clear that the “disappeared into the layer” of the early interviews is a reconstruction, denied by Whitted. Distance: the two men could never agree (one under 1,000 ft, the other several times that), and McDonald does not say which said which. The recording does not settle it, and cannot: it states angular sizes only, and a distance follows from them just where the object crosses a piece of decor whose position is known — which an empty night sky offers nowhere. The drawing follows the official report's framing (~180 m at closest), which is therefore a staging choice and not a claim of the file. The account is now played in 3D, and that is where, and only where, a distance is claimed: the body is the tapered cigar of his own drawing, 30 m long, and its thickness — the one measurement of the drawing that does not depend on which way it was seen — gives the range at every instant, 706 m as it comes on and 183 m at its nearest. The drawing's width then says how far round it had turned, 20° off end-on at the first instant and broadside by the end, and the heading that follows holds to within fifteen degrees throughout: his boxes, which say nothing about a course, are those of a thing holding one while the aeroplane crossed it. It does not raise its nose through the pull-up, because he drew nothing of the kind. Shape after the drawing Chiles himself gave Project Sign (Blue Book, report no. 14, case 5): a slim cigar tapered at both ends, with no porthole at all, and at the front the light area he annotates “cockpit windshield?”. The cross ribs of his sketch are not rendered: this format draws shapes, not a surface finish. The flame follows the 40 feet Whitted put on his own drawing, the only observer figure for it: Chiles annotated none, and nothing in the file says they disagreed about it. Reported length ~30 m; its apparent length grows as it comes side-on. The avoidance bank is not reproduced: the format cannot yet roll the point of view. The aircraft MOVES, which a file repeating the same latitude at every keyframe did not say: its course is the heading the account gives at the first instant — the object comes head-on, so they are looking straight ahead — and its speed is a DC-3's ordinary cruise, 288 km/h, or 800 m of ground in ten seconds. Both are ASSUMED: no source gives that flight's course or ground speed. What is not assumed is that an airliner at 1,500 m does not hover.", "es": "El relato del capitán Clarence S. Chiles, en el asiento de la izquierda. Visto desde la cabina del DC-3 a 1500 m — de ahí el suelo tan bajo y el cielo nocturno del 24 de julio de 1948. El objeto viene de frente, en rumbo de colisión, y pasa a la derecha; Chiles vira a la izquierda para evitarlo, y ve el brusco encabritamiento. Su relato se detiene ahí: según las comprobaciones cruzadas de McDonald (1968), solo Whitted, en el asiento de la derecha, vio la fase final. Así que el objeto simplemente sale de su campo visual tras el encabritamiento, sin que se enuncie nada sobre una nube — McDonald deja claro que el “desapareció en la capa” de las primeras entrevistas es una reconstrucción, desmentida por Whitted. Distancia: los dos hombres nunca lograron ponerse de acuerdo (uno menos de 1000 ft, el otro varias veces más), y McDonald no dice quién dijo qué. La grabación no lo zanja, ni puede: solo enuncia tamaños angulares, y de ellos se deduce una distancia justo donde el objeto cruza un elemento del decorado cuya posición se conoce — cosa que un cielo nocturno vacío no ofrece en ninguna parte. El dibujo sigue el encuadre del informe oficial (~180 m en el punto más cercano), que es por tanto una elección de puesta en escena y no una afirmación del expediente. El relato se reproduce ahora en 3D, y es ahí, y solo ahí, donde se afirma una distancia: el cuerpo es el cigarro ahusado de su propio dibujo, de 30 m de largo, y su grosor — la única medida del dibujo que no depende del ángulo desde el que se vio — da la distancia en cada instante, 706 m cuando se acerca y 183 m en su punto más cercano. La anchura del dibujo dice entonces cuánto había girado, 20° respecto a la vista de frente en el primer instante y de costado al final, y el rumbo que se deduce se mantiene con un margen de quince grados en todo momento: sus recuadros, que no dicen nada de una derrota, son los de algo que mantiene una mientras el avión lo cruzaba. No levanta el morro durante el encabritamiento, porque él no dibujó nada parecido. Forma según el dibujo que el propio Chiles entregó al Project Sign (Blue Book, informe n.º 14, caso 5): un cigarro esbelto ahusado por ambos extremos, sin ninguna portilla, y en la parte delantera la zona clara que anota “cockpit windshield?”. Las costillas transversales de su croquis no se representan: este formato dibuja formas, no un acabado de superficie. La llama sigue los 40 pies que Whitted puso en su propio dibujo, la única cifra de un observador para ella: Chiles no anotó ninguna, y nada en el expediente dice que discreparan al respecto. Longitud declarada ~30 m; su longitud aparente crece a medida que se pone de costado. El viraje de evasión no se reproduce: el formato aún no puede alabear el punto de vista. El avión SE MUEVE, cosa que no decía un archivo que repetía la misma latitud en cada fotograma clave: su derrota es el rumbo que da el relato en el primer instante — el objeto viene de frente, así que miran recto hacia delante — y su velocidad es la de crucero habitual de un DC-3, 288 km/h, u 800 m de suelo en diez segundos. Ambas son SUPUESTAS: ninguna fuente da la derrota ni la velocidad respecto al suelo de ese vuelo. Lo que no se supone es que un avión de línea a 1500 m no se queda suspendido en el aire.", "it": "Il resoconto del comandante Clarence S. Chiles, sul sedile di sinistra. Visto dalla cabina di pilotaggio del DC-3 a 1.500 m — da qui il suolo molto basso e il cielo notturno del 24 luglio 1948. L'oggetto arriva frontalmente, in rotta di collisione, e passa a destra; Chiles vira a sinistra per evitarlo, e vede la brusca cabrata. Il suo resoconto si ferma lì: secondo le verifiche incrociate di McDonald (1968), solo Whitted, sul sedile di destra, vide la fase finale. Così l'oggetto esce semplicemente dal suo campo visivo dopo la cabrata, senza che nulla sia detto di una nuvola — McDonald chiarisce che lo “scomparso nello strato” delle prime interviste è una ricostruzione, smentita da Whitted. Distanza: i due uomini non riuscirono mai a mettersi d'accordo (uno sotto i 1.000 ft, l'altro diverse volte tanto), e McDonald non dice chi disse cosa. La registrazione non risolve la questione, e non può farlo: indica solo dimensioni angolari, e una distanza se ne ricava solo dove l'oggetto attraversa un elemento dello scenario la cui posizione è nota — cosa che un cielo notturno vuoto non offre da nessuna parte. Il disegno segue l'inquadratura del rapporto ufficiale (~180 m al punto più vicino), che è quindi una scelta di messa in scena e non un'affermazione del fascicolo. Il resoconto è ora riprodotto in 3D, ed è lì, e solo lì, che si afferma una distanza: il corpo è il sigaro affusolato del suo stesso disegno, lungo 30 m, e il suo spessore — l'unica misura del disegno che non dipende dal verso da cui fu visto — dà la distanza a ogni istante, 706 m mentre si avvicina e 183 m nel punto più vicino. La larghezza del disegno dice allora di quanto si fosse girato, a 20° dalla vista di punta al primo istante e di fianco alla fine, e la direzione che ne consegue resta entro quindici gradi per tutto il tempo: i suoi riquadri, che non dicono nulla di una rotta, sono quelli di una cosa che ne manteneva una mentre l'aereo la incrociava. Non alza il muso durante la cabrata, perché lui non disegnò nulla del genere. Forma secondo il disegno che Chiles stesso consegnò al Project Sign (Blue Book, rapporto n. 14, caso 5): un sigaro sottile affusolato alle due estremità, senza alcun oblò, e sul davanti la zona chiara che annota “cockpit windshield?”. Le nervature trasversali del suo schizzo non sono rese: questo formato disegna forme, non una finitura di superficie. La fiamma segue i 40 piedi che Whitted mise sul proprio disegno, l'unica cifra di un osservatore al riguardo: Chiles non ne annotò alcuna, e nulla nel fascicolo dice che fossero in disaccordo su questo. Lunghezza riportata ~30 m; la sua lunghezza apparente cresce man mano che si presenta di fianco. La virata di scampo non è riprodotta: il formato non può ancora far rollare il punto di vista. L'aereo AVANZA, cosa che un fascicolo che ripeteva la stessa latitudine a ogni keyframe non diceva: la sua rotta è la direzione che il resoconto dà al primo istante — l'oggetto arriva frontalmente, quindi guardano dritto davanti a sé — e la sua velocità è la normale velocità di crociera di un DC-3, 288 km/h, ovvero 800 m di suolo in dieci secondi. Entrambe sono IPOTIZZATE: nessuna fonte indica la rotta o la velocità al suolo di quel volo. Ciò che non è ipotizzato è che un aereo di linea a 1.500 m non resta sospeso in volo." }, "tags": [ "NL", "aerial observation", "Project Sign" ], "sources":[ { "type":"article", "title":"Cas 5 (numéros de série 0565.00 à 0565.03), in \"The 'Flying Saucer' model\"", "url":"https://rr0.org/time/1/9/5/5/05/05/PBBSR14/analysis/study/saucer/index.html#cas5", "publication":{ "publisher":"US Air Force, Project Blue Book Special Report n° 14", "time":"1955" } }, { "type":"article", "title":"Do We Have Visitors From Space?", "url":"https://www.project1947.com/shg/csi/life52.html", "publication":{ "publisher":"Life", "time":"1952-04-07" } } ], "timeline": { "keyframes": [ { "t": 0, "shapes": [ { "sourceId": "ufo-1", "shape": { "kind": "oval", "bounds": { "x": 337.1, "y": 173.4, "width": 5.2, "height": 1.5 }, "color": "#1c3f9c", "angle": 0, "transparency": 0, "haloScale": 0.8, "selected": false, "title": {"fr": "Fuselage", "en": "Fuselage", "es": "Fuselaje", "it": "Fusoliera"}, "angular": { 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32.381953, "lng": -86.304965, "elevationM": 1500, "headingDeg": 52.51, "pitchDeg": 0.88, "fovDeg": 60 } }, { "t": 2800, "pose": { "lat": 32.382393, "lng": -86.304528, "elevationM": 1500, "headingDeg": 63.56, "pitchDeg": 5.79, "fovDeg": 60 } }, { "t": 3500, "pose": { "lat": 32.382778, "lng": -86.304145, "elevationM": 1500, "headingDeg": 77.83, "pitchDeg": 11.42, "fovDeg": 60 } }, { "t": 5000, "pose": { "lat": 32.383604, "lng": -86.303324, "elevationM": 1500, "headingDeg": 81.95, "pitchDeg": 23, "fovDeg": 60 } }, { "t": 7000, "pose": { "lat": 32.384705, "lng": -86.30223, "elevationM": 1500, "headingDeg": 81.95, "pitchDeg": 26.59, "fovDeg": 60 } } ] }, "weatherTrack": { "keyframes": [ { "t": 0, "weather": { "cloudLayers": [ { "id": "record-low", "type": "unknown", "baseM": 228, "thicknessM": 650, "coverage": 0, "sizeM": 1400, "density": 1 }, { "id": "record-mid", "type": "unknown", "baseM": 3500, "thicknessM": 800, "coverage": 0.009966666666666665, "sizeM": 2500, "density": 1 }, { "id": "record-high", "type": "cirrus", "baseM": 8000, "thicknessM": 400, "coverage": 0.0024916666666666663, "sizeM": 2200, "density": 0.35 } ], "cloudCover": 0.012458333333333335, "cloudDarkness": 0.38, "highCloudCover": 0.0024916666666666663, "lowerCloudCover": 0.009966666666666665, "relativeHumidity": 0.9, "precipitationType": "none", "precipitationIntensity": 0, "windDirectionDeg": 162.7541666666666, "windSpeed": 1.4425583333333334, "storm": false } }, { "t": 7000, "weather": { "cloudLayers": [ { "id": "record-low", "type": "unknown", "baseM": 228, "thicknessM": 650, "coverage": 0, "sizeM": 1400, "density": 1 }, { "id": "record-mid", "type": "unknown", "baseM": 3500, "thicknessM": 800, "coverage": 0.009888888888888888, "sizeM": 2500, "density": 1 }, { "id": "record-high", "type": "cirrus", "baseM": 8000, "thicknessM": 400, "coverage": 0.002472222222222222, "sizeM": 2200, "density": 0.35 } ], "cloudCover": 0.012361111111111114, "cloudDarkness": 0.38, "highCloudCover": 0.002472222222222222, "lowerCloudCover": 0.009888888888888888, "relativeHumidity": 0.9, "precipitationType": "none", "precipitationIntensity": 0, "windDirectionDeg": 162.7638888888889, "windSpeed": 1.4426944444444443, "storm": false } } ] }, "decor": [], "weatherSource": { "id": "era5", "name": "ERA5 (Open-Meteo)", "url": "https://archive-api.open-meteo.com/v1/archive?latitude=32.380852&longitude=-86.306059&start_date=1948-07-24&end_date=1948-07-24&hourly=cloud_cover%2Ccloud_cover_low%2Ccloud_cover_mid%2Ccloud_cover_high%2Cprecipitation%2Csnowfall%2Cweather_code%2Cwind_speed_10m%2Cwind_direction_10m%2Ctemperature_2m%2Cdew_point_2m&wind_speed_unit=ms&timezone=UTC" }, "instrument": "eye", "interpretation": { "title": { "fr": "Le cigare effilé que Chiles a dessiné, à trente mètres de long", "en": "The slim tapered cigar Chiles drew, thirty metres long", "es": "El cigarro esbelto y ahusado que dibujó Chiles, de treinta metros de largo", "it": "Il sigaro sottile e affusolato disegnato da Chiles, lungo trenta metri" }, "bodies": [ { "id": "craft", "title": { "fr": "L'objet", "en": "The object", "es": "El objeto", "it": "L'oggetto" }, "explains": [ "ufo-1" ], "model": { "id": "ufoathome-chiles-craft" }, "outlineNode": "hull", "track": { "value": [ { "t": 0, "azimuthDeg": 43.28, "altitudeDeg": 0.97, "distanceM": 705.9, "attitude": { "headingDeg": 203.5, "pitchDeg": 0 }, "sizeM": { "widthM": 3.17, "lengthM": 30, "heightM": 3.17 }, "appearance": { "luminanceCdM2": { "value": 2, "basis": "assumed", "rationale": "Neither man gave a brightness. What they gave is a colour, and that is what sets this: against the sky of 02:45 and an eye adapted to it, the scene shows their deep blue only while the hull stays under about a quarter of a candela per square metre, and washes it to a white neither of them described above that. Two is the luminance of the brightest thing the model says glows — the light area at the nose he annotated \"cockpit windshield?\" — and the fuselage burns at an eighth of it, which is the ratio the model carries, so the fuselage sits just under that edge. It is a small figure for a lit window, some hundred-and-twentieth of a fluorescent tube's, and it is chosen for the colour it reproduces and not from anything measured: it is the colour, not the number, that is the account. It was twelve while the scene showed the eye's response as a luminance on the screen; shown as a lightness since (see EYE_RESPONSE_GLSL), the same colour needs a sixth of the light, and a hull left at twelve came out a vivid blue no night shows." } }, "flame": { "lengthM": 12.2, "widthM": 3.2, "color": "#ff9a4a", "tipColor": "#d0200a", "luminanceCdM2": { "value": 120000, "basis": "assumed", "rationale": "Nobody measured it, and only Whitted put a figure on the flame at all, its length. What both men describe is a jet of orange and red seen against a moonless night from a few hundred metres, bright enough that they took it at first for the exhaust of a jet fighter: 120 000 cd/m² is the order of a rocket motor's plume and a tenth of the Socorro flame's assumed brightness, which was chosen against daylight and would be absurd here. What makes it right or wrong is the eye, not the account: the recording states a luminance so that the scene's own photometry decides how it reads at 02:45, and a better figure replaces this one without anything else changing." } } }, { "t": 1000, "azimuthDeg": 46.6, "altitudeDeg": 1.03, "distanceM": 470.7, "attitude": { "headingDeg": 183.7, "pitchDeg": 0 } }, { "t": 2000, "azimuthDeg": 55.63, "altitudeDeg": 1.1, "distanceM": 260.1, "attitude": { "headingDeg": 191.8, "pitchDeg": 0 } }, { "t": 2800, "azimuthDeg": 69.41, "altitudeDeg": 7.26, "distanceM": 205.9, "attitude": { "headingDeg": 171.4, "pitchDeg": 0 } }, { "t": 3500, "azimuthDeg": 86.99, "altitudeDeg": 14.44, "distanceM": 183, "attitude": { "headingDeg": 172, "pitchDeg": 0 } }, { "t": 5000, "azimuthDeg": 91.15, "altitudeDeg": 29.11, "distanceM": 380.1, "attitude": { "headingDeg": 181.1, "pitchDeg": 0 } }, { "t": 5800, "present": false } ], "basis": "derived", "rationale": "Thirty metres long is the account's own figure. The distance is not: the two men never agreed on it, one under a thousand feet and the other several times that, and McDonald does not say which said which. Both are DERIVED here from the drawing itself, and nothing is derived from the length, which the drawing foreshortens. What it does not foreshorten is the THICKNESS: a body of revolution is its own diameter across the short way from any angle, so the 3.17 m the recording makes of the box's height fixes the range at every instant, 706 m as it comes on and 183 m at its nearest. That the nearest lands on the official report's own framing is not a confirmation: the drawing was laid out to it. The box's WIDTH then says how far round it had turned, 20° off end-on at the first instant and broadside by the last, and the heading that follows from that comes out at 184° on average and never more than fifteen degrees from it: Chiles's boxes, which say nothing about a course, are those of a thing holding one straight course while the aeroplane crossed it. Where it points UP is nowhere: through the pull-up it climbs without raising its nose, because his boxes stay as thin there as anywhere, and a thirty-metre body pitched thirty degrees is five times deeper on the glass than one flying level. Tilting it would manufacture a disagreement he never stated." } } ] }, "frozen": { "relief": { "src": "observer-chiles.relief.zip", "takenOn": "2026-10-20", "attribution": "Relief © IGN, LiDAR HD and RGE ALTI (Licence Ouverte 2.0) in France; © AWS Open Data (SRTM, ETOPO1) elsewhere" }, "imagery": { "src": "observer-chiles.imagery.zip", "takenOn": "2026-10-20", "attribution": "Imagery © Esri, Maxar, Earthstar Geographics, and the GIS User Community" }, "map": { "src": "observer-chiles.map.zip", "takenOn": "2026-10-20", "attribution": "Imagery © Esri, Maxar, Earthstar Geographics, and the GIS User Community" } } }