UFO identified as Venus in 1950

Summary

In March 1950, an observer at Biggs Air Base near El Paso, Texas, spotted a bright white disc-like object. The witness, using a telescope, described it as the size of a quarter and shaped like a half or quarter moon. The air base dispatched jet fighters to 20,000 feet, but the object was above that altitude. Despite the investigation, no photos or physical evidence were obtained.

The official conclusion was that the object was not a UFO, but the planet Venus. This case illustrates how even in the 1950s, unidentified flying object sightings were taken seriously, though they often turned out to have simple astronomical explanations.