Clarence Chiles

Clarence Chiles was an experienced Eastern Air Lines pilot and former Air Transport Command flier. On 24 July 1948, as chief pilot of a DC-3 on the Houston–Atlanta passenger flight, he observed at around 2:45 a.m. over the Montgomery, Alabama area a torpedo-shaped object about thirty metres long with glowing windows. The case — today known as the Chiles–Whitted encounter — became one of the central early aviation UFO cases and fed into the classified U.S. Air Force document Estimate of the Situation.

• Experienced Eastern Air Lines pilot and former Air Transport Command flier
• Chief pilot of a DC-3 on the Houston–Atlanta passenger flight
• 24 July 1948 at around 2:45 a.m. near Montgomery, Alabama
• Observation of a torpedo-shaped, wingless object around thirty metres long with glowing windows
• Object passed the DC-3 at high speed, trailing a blue-orange exhaust flame
• Co-pilot John Whitted confirmed the sighting; passenger C. L. McKelvie reported a bright flash of light
• Case investigated by Project Sign; part of the classified Estimate of the Situation

For the UAP timeline, Chiles is one of the key early civilian aviation cases: an experienced airline captain with a corroborating co-pilot and a passenger witness not only meets the criteria of credible witness testimony but also fed directly into the internal U.S. Air Force assessment — and thereby became one of the foundations of the Estimate of the Situation.