CAA observers in Clarendon, Texas, saw unidentified object to the southeast while observers in Childress about 50 miles southeast saw object to northwest and triangulated stationary object midway in between near Memphis, for 3+ hours beginning at nine a.m, which did not move significantly despite winds aloft. Northrop engineering test pilot Max Stanley and observers Lloyd Balsam and Sam F. West were asked to intercept object as they were about to take off in F-61C (AF 8357) from Amarillo on an MX-775 test (Navaho cruise missile celestial guidance test), and a B-36 also took off from Ft. Worth to intercept. At about 12:20 p.m, F-61C crew reached 20,000 feet near Memphis and saw a translucent silver spherical shaped object to the southeast at "considerable distance" at 30,000+ feet with "prominent detents" top and bottom with a dark vertical streak or shadow, and streak tilted occasionally resulting in object moving laterally slowly and briefly, with no visible means of propulsion. Object was visible only when sunlight intermittently reflected on it. Contact with CAA Amarillo Range Station revealed no other aircraft in area at high altitude. Northrop crew flew ten minutes at 200+ mph (150 mph IAS) toward object but could not overtake it though apparently closed distance so that object was better observed, appearing as if possibly a weather balloon, however CAA Amarillo denied the possibility due to winds aloft and extreme length of CAA observation. Object then disappeared behind or into a deck of high altitude cirrus clouds. F-61C continued on southeast heading for about five minutes at 30,000 feet and UFO reappeared slightly to the right and higher, very close to the base of the cirrus cloud deck, and much closer than when it had disappeared. UFO angular size 1/2 of full moon. F-61C made radio contact with B-36 crew at 46,000 feet, above the cloud layer who could not see object. UFO then disappeared again behind or into a cloud (probably after < one min), F-61C circled for about five minutes, then regained object for about 30 seconds in a break between two clouds before losing sight of it for the last time. F-61C had to descend due to depletion of oxygen supply, two to three minutes later B-36 broke off attempted intercept too.

One silver ball was observed by over five witnesses for 3over minutes (Balsam, Lloyd; Stanley, Max; West, Sam F).

Google map of this location.