As I research various topics to write about for the History Center’s weekly column, I sometimes come across interesting, unexpected information from Bossier’s past that captures my attention. Such is the case with an old newspaper headline and story that I found recently concerning supposedly strange objects spotted over Barksdale Air Force Base. What were those lights seen in the night sky?
In June 1947, a pilot named Kenneth Arnold, who was flying alone from Washington state to an air show in Oregon, helped launch the UFO (unidentified flying object) craze after describing for reporters nine shiny objects he claimed to have seen moving in formation near Mt. Rainer at speeds then unachievable by known aircraft. From that encounter and its subsequent publicity, the term “flying saucier” became a widely-used term.
The idea of aliens from other worlds coming to Earth became a central theme of many science fiction movies of the 1950s. Films like “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” “The War of the Worlds” and, one of my personal favorites, “The Thing From Another World” kept theater audiences on the edge of their seats. An honorable mention goes to “Plan 9 From Outer Space.” It’s definitely in the so-bad-it’s-good category.
In 1952, the UFO phenomena invaded Bossier City. A headline in the Bossier City Planter’s Press of August 28 that year proclaims, “Sky Objects Over Barksdale Not Balloons, Weather Records Prove!” The accompanying article details how a local resident had seen a bright light over the air base each night for three weeks that blinked and “seemed to dart about in a strange manner.” He said it had always appeared between 8:25 and 8:45. The resident then invited a reporter from the newspaper to join him and two other observers to try and view the light. They weren’t disappointed.
Of the experience, the reporter wrote, “As the minutes dragged on and nothing appeared, the skepticism returned. But, at 8:44, a bright light … seemed to come from the vicinity of the West Gate … the light continued low over the base for several minutes … There was no noise.” He states that the light blinked several times and then ascended until no longer visible.
While discussing what they’d seen, the group noticed another light appear approximately 45 minutes later. “It followed about the same course, blinking occasionally as it rose in the sky,” the reporter wrote. Checking with officials at Barksdale revealed that a weather balloon had been released at exactly 9 p.m., but no others before or after that time. And according to the Planters Press article, those officials said that weather balloons only carried dim, non-blinking lights.
The reporter concluded by stating that he was unsure exactly what he and the others had witnessed. “Flying saucer? I don’t know. I only checked the weather balloon theory, and it did not add up,” he wrote.
Perhaps the Air Force itself could have helped. In March 1952, Project Blue Book was initiated by the Air Force to investigate UFOs, and according to a National Archives article from December 2019 titled “Saucers Over Washington: The History of Project Blue Book,” there was no shortage of cases to scrutinize. “Civilians made tens of thousands of reports to Project Blue Book personnel claiming to have seen a UFO,” the article states.
I’m unsure how often Barksdale Air Force Base, local law enforcement or local media are contacted about unusual sights in the sky, but perhaps heeding the words of the character Scotty, a reporter in “The Thing From Another World,” might be advisable. As the movie ends, he offers a warning: “Watch the skies, everywhere. Keep looking. Keep watching the skies.”
If you have any information or items relating to the history of Bossier Parish, the History Center may be interested in adding the materials to its research collection by donation or by scanning them and returning the originals. Call or visit us to learn more. We are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org. We can also be found online at https://www.facebook.com/BPLHistoryCenter/ and http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/
Images:
- The War of the Worlds movie poster, 1953/courtesy Wikimedia Commons
- Bossier City Planters Press headline, August 28, 1952/newspapers.com