131st Utility Flight, the 131st Weather Station and detachment 'B' of the 202d
Air Services Group, Air National Guard at Barnes Airport, Westfield, Massachusetts
SEEN IN SPRINGFIELD SECTOR
Lt John J Sevila, 131st pilot, has reported sighting the first flying saucer noted in this section.
About 1645 on April 6th, John heard a sound which he thought was a flight of jet planes. He rushed out of the house to see them but none were there. However he did see a large 'perfectly circular' object travelling slowly westward at an estimated altitude of about 25000 feet. The sky was clear blue with CAVU weather prevailing. He watched it for about four minutes, while it moved at between 50 and 100 mph., after which it suddenly disappeared. He estimates that it was larger than a four-engine plane. When the sun light hit it right, it shone like a mirror, he also stated.
'I don't know what the hell I saw,' explained John, 'I'm making no claim that it was a saucer or anything else, but I did see something, and I just gave you a true account of what it was.' To which he added, ‘Tell the other boys to be on the lookout for them, we may get tangled up with them some day.
John is scheduled to be awarded the cup for getting in the greatest number of flying hours, 375, during 1949.
Over City After Odd Noise April 6
Service Publication; Declares It Was Circular, Bigger Than a Plane
Westfield, April 13—Lt. John J. Sevila of Mystic St., Springfield, a pilot with the 131st Fighter Squadron, Massachusetts Air National Guard, has reported sighting a “flying saucer” according to the first anniversary publication of the Thunderbolt, monthly organ of the squadron and its allied units.
Lt. Sevila, according to the current issue, witnessed what he believed to be one of the controversial “saucers” on Thursday, the 6th, about 4.45 in the afternoon. He reported hearing a sound that he believed to be a flight of jet planes and rushed out of his home for a look.
He failed to sight any jets but did see what he described as a large “perfectly circular” object travelling slowly westward at an estimated altitude of about 25,000 feet. He claims to have watched the object for about four minutes while it moved between 50 and 100 MPH, after which it slowly disappeared.
He estimates that the “saucer” was larger than a four-engined plane and reports that when the sunlight hit it right that it “shone like a mirror.”
Lt. Sevila's report is corroborated to some extent by another member of the local squadron, Staff Sgt. David McGowan of Main St., Easthampton, who heard the same sound at about the same time while working outdoors near his home. He stated that he was working beneath some trees and did not see the object clearly and had attributed the noise at the time as coming from a jet ship.
In his statement to the editors of the Thunderbolt, Lt. Sevila claimed that he wasn’t sure what it was that he saw except that his eyes were not deceiving him and he did see something definitely out of the ordinary in the aircraft line. “Tell the other boys,” he said, “to be on the lookout for them, we may get tangled up with them some day.”
Lt. Sevila, incidentally, is due to be awarded the Squadron cup for getting in the greatest number of flying hours, 375, during 1949.
Report of Strange Ship
The report of a Massachusetts Air National Guard pilot, who said he spotted a flying saucer from his home in Springfield on April 6, was strengthened last night by Edward Krygowski of 35 Ley St., Agawam, who declared that he also spotted the craft, but did not report it at the time for fear people would think he was “crazy.”
He told The Union that he left work at 3 that afternoon, and was digging in his lawn when he spotted the saucer between 4.45 and 5 in the afternoon. He agreed with Lt. John J. Sevila of Mystic St., a fighter pilot with the 131st Air National Guard, that the disc was flying due west.
Krygowski said that just a few minutes before two four-engined C-54s flew over, heading east, and when he heard the sound of an engine again, he thought it might be the same aircraft.
The Agawam man said that the saucer was very high, was silver, and shone when the sun hit it. He added that he thought about calling Westover Air Force Base to ask about it, but finally decided against the move for fear he would be dubbed a crazy man. After seeing the National Guard pilot's report in the newspaper yesterday, however, he decided to come forward to substantiate it.
The Agawam man reported that there was not a cloud in the sky at the time, and that he watched the disc for a full five to six minutes. He said it was so high that when he first looked up he didn't see anything, but that after squinting upward for a few seconds he saw the saucer. He said it was traveling slowly, which jibes well with Lt. Sevila's story. The lieutenant estimated it was traveling between 50 and 100 MPH, which is comparatively slow, as far as air speed is concerned.
PROJECT 1947 Comment: Despite the extensive media coverage of this incident in both the local Air National Guard service journal and the popular press, this incident is not to be found in the Project Blue Book archives.
