Lawson AFB, Georgia: Tower sees color-changing object, two Army helicopters sent after it
On the evening of August 11, 1954, tower operators at Lawson AFB at Fort Benning, Georgia, watched a stationary, color-changing object to the west; two Army helicopters sent to investigate both saw it before it disappeared at 9:29 p.m.
Background
At 8:54 p.m. A1C Chase E. Lewis, tower operator at Lawson AFB (now Lawson Army Airfield) at Fort Benning near Columbus, Georgia, saw a strange stationary object in the west that varied in brightness, changed color from white to red to orange and back to white, and seemed to make high-speed motions. An Army helicopter piloted by WO R. T. Wade was sent to investigate and located the object 20 miles west of Lawson at 2,000 feet, but abandoned the chase after 2 minutes because of low fuel. At 9:05 p.m. two more tower operators, including A1C William N. Watson, viewed the object. A second Army helicopter, piloted by U. S. Tarma, was diverted to it at 9:27 p.m. and saw it before it disappeared at 9:29 p.m. The report went through the CIRVIS channel and is listed among the Blue Book unknowns compiled by Brad Sparks. The account follows the entry in George M. Eberhart's chronology UFOs and Intelligence (CUFOS) and the sources cited there; it is not an independent determination by From Beyond Space.