One ball was observed by two witnesses.

Project Grudge Assessment:

I. DISCUSSION OF INCIDENT On the evening of 24 November 1951, seven people observed an unidentified aerial object, from four separate locations in Southern Michigan. The object was observed in the SE quadrant traveling at speeds 'much faster than a jet' at an apparently low altitude (below 2,000 ft. or 2° - 4° above the horizon) in all the observations. The object traveled horizontal to the earth and in one instance was noted to lose altitude just before it disappeared. No sounds were heard by any of the observers. In each case the time the object was in sight was 5-6 seconds or less.

Additional information is given below and in enclosed overlay which shows apparent track of objects. It will be noted that these are only the apparent tracks.

Location       Time    Shape    Color        Trail      Course  Dist(miles) Observer    
Selfridge AFB  1820 E  Egg      White        Red        wsw     2-3         AF PFC
Selfridge AFB  1820 E  Football White        Orange-red w       1           AF PFC
Battle Creek   1825 E  Oval     White        White      sw      10-20       AF Pvt
Grand Rapids   1824 E  Round    White        None       sw      -           Tower Operator    
Coopersville   1825 E  Round    Bluish-white None       sw      30-40       Airline Crew 

II. WEATHER: CAVU and exceptionally clear at all points of observation.

STATUS OF THE INVESTIGATION

The possibility of jet aircraft in the area, unidentified radar returns, and known meteoric or aurora phenomenon were checked with negative results. From the reports, it is reasonable to assume that all the observers sighted the same object. There is a time span of five minutes between various sightings but this could be due to errors in the watches of the observers. Assuming that the tower clock would be the most accurate, the time would be 1824. EST. From the estimates of the altitude (i.e. appeared low), it is apparent that the object must have been a comparatively great distance from all the observers. The fact that the observers in Grand Rapids and over Coopersville did not observe a tail or trail can be explained by the fact that they were farther away from the object.

The actual flight path of the object was probably high over Ontario, Canada. It would probably be possible to determine the exact location by collecting reports or interrogations in Canada. It is not believed that this would be worth the effort, however, as it would still not definitely identify the object unless it had been observed by competent astronomers.

IV. CONCLUSIONS

It is concluded that the object observed in Southern Michigan on 24 November 1951 was a large meteor-like object that probably passed over Ontario, Canada, or upper New York State.

Google map of this location.