Football-shaped object with throbbing sound — Sterling, Utah, October 16, 1948

Fred Bash, a car dealer and aircraft mechanic of Sterling, Utah, reported hearing a throbbing noise on October 16, 1948. Upon looking up, he observed a football-shaped silver object with a black stripe down its center at approximately 500 ft altitude traveling north-northwest toward Salt Lake City at an estimated 300 mph. The observation lasted approximately 4 seconds before the object disappeared. No official explanation was recorded.

“Object described as football-shaped, approximately 9x6x3 inches [sic, likely feet], silver with a black stripe down the center, moving N-NW at approximately 300 mph at 500 ft, producing a throbbing sound; observed for 4 seconds.”

Single witness with mechanical aviation background (aircraft mechanic). Document notes observer is a LDS church member and a car dealer, suggesting character assessment by reporting agency. Object size as recorded may reflect a discrepancy between document inches and feet nomenclature — apparent object size at 500 ft is consistent with feet, not inches. OCR quality is poor. This incident appears to be duplicated in the 173-233 file (Incident 186), likely the same event.