Blackstone entity encounter — 1950-01-24

At approximately 4:50 p.m. on 24 January 1950, Capt. G. B. Edwards and copilot Capt. Theron C. Fehrevach were flying a C-45 transport near Blackstone, Virginia. They reported a dark, hemispherical or parachute-like object roughly five to ten miles away, above their initial 5,000-foot altitude. Its estimated width was 200–250 feet, with a much broader dark region beneath it which they compared with smoke or a partly obscured lower structure. The object moved laterally, reversed without an obvious turn and then receded rapidly. Edwards climbed toward 7,000 feet and adjusted course toward it. Army courier passenger 1 st Lt. John H. Van Santen was alerted and also observed the phenomenon. After disappearing, it reportedly reappeared farther away, oscillated around its position and again moved ahead before receding from sight. The whole sequence lasted about fifteen minutes. The reported dimensions and very high departure-speed estimates were visual inferences, not instrument measurements. NICAP's detailed directory describes three observers, no radar contact and no electromagnetic interference. It is an aircrew observation of an unidentified object; no occupants or entity interaction were reported. The reconstruction shows the crew and the uncertain hemisphere-and-dark-region appearance, without adding windows, aliens or sensor returns.