What did witnesses see traveling across Monroe County’s dark skies on the night of July 25, 1950?

Soviet scientist with Sputnik 1.

What did witnesses see traveling across Monroe County’s dark skies on the night of July 25, 1950?

That is a question I could not help but ask the other day as I read an unusual story published in the July 27, 1950 edition of The Monroe Journal. Under the headline, “Bright Light Is Seen Moving Across The Sky Here Tuesday Night,” readers learned that something very out of the ordinary taken place. The story read as follows:

“To date, no flying saucers have been reported over Monroeville. But Tuesday night, an unusually bright light moving across the sky created almost as much excitement. The light was first seen in the east by Mrs. Walter McDonald of Monroeville, about nine o’clock.

“At that time, it was described as ‘very bright’ and fan-shaped, and was moving in a southeasterly direction at a rate of speed that was perceptible. Mrs. McDonald called the attention of several neighbors to the phenomenon, and they watched the movement of the light across the sky for some time.

“By 11 o’clock, the brightness of the light had subsided, Mrs. McDonald said, and no perceptible motion could be seen. At that time, the light resembled a star, but was brighter and larger than even the evening star, she stated. Meteorologists and astronomers in this section of the state have made no mention of the occurrence.”

There are several points about this article that raise further questions. First, this was no shooting star streaking across the sky for only a brief period of time. Instead, the story says that the light was visible from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m., which seems to be inconsistent with the run-of-the-mill shooting star.

A close reading of the short article also indicates that the object was still visible at 11 p.m. It just wasn’t as bright and didn’t appear to be moving. The article notes that at 11 p.m. the object was brighter and larger than the evening star, which is an old term for the planet Venus.

Many modern readers will likely say that this strange object was probably a manmade satellite, but note the date that this occurred. The first manmade satellite was the Soviet Union’s Sputnik 1. It was launched until October 1957 – a full seven years after the mysterious object was spotted over Monroeville.

A little research leads me to believe that the Mrs. Walter McDonald mentioned in the article to be Marjorie Taylor McDonald, who would have been around 30 years old in the summer of 1950. She passed away in 1974 and is buried in the Hillcrest Cemetery in Monroeville.

The article also mentions that “several neighbors” saw the light, which makes me wonder what part of Monroeville she lived in and who were her neighbors. Even though 71 years have passed since that summer day in Monroeville, it’s possible that one of those witnesses could still be alive, especially if they were a child at the time.

In the end, I’d like to hear from anyone in the reading audience who might remember any details about the unusual incident described above. Perhaps someone may remember hearing a relative talk about it. Also, let me hear from you if you have any theories about what the unusual light may have been.