Coulterville entity encounter — 1950-02-27

At about 07:00 on 27 February 1950, a pilot returning from Wood River to Du Quoin, Illinois, with his wife noticed an object near Coulterville. The Air Force interview identifies their aircraft as a PT-19 trainer. Thinking the object was another aircraft, he climbed from about 2,000 to 5,000 feet to reach its apparent altitude. His wife also observed it. The pilot described a highly reflective discus approximately sixty feet across and ten feet thick at the centre, tapering toward its edges. He reported no windows, markings, rotors, smoke, flames or vapour trail. For roughly fifteen minutes he watched it turn right and left and move vertically, apparently tilting toward its direction of travel. He estimated coming within half a mile, and manoeuvred above, below and beside it to test whether it might be an illusion or reflection. It eventually accelerated southward. The surviving OSI report followed an interview on 15 March, rather than an immediate report that morning; the pilot said he had feared ridicule. NICAP later identified him as Richard Lemmon and listed the case among Blue Book unknowns. Those classifications preserve an unresolved report, not proof of its interpretation. No occupant or entity was described, despite the Atlas entry’s entity label. The plate therefore shows the two aviators and reflective object only.