Flying Saucer Seen Over East Middleborough, 1950

"The first flying saucer in this area was reported Monday afternoon to the [Middleborough] police department by Mrs. William W. Kelley of Cedar street. Mrs. Kelley said her attention was attracted to the object in the sky when she heard a loud explosion. She said the object she saw was high in the air and appeared about 30 feet wide. She was positive that it was not an airplane. Mrs. Kelley reported to the police as she told the desk officer she was under the impression that she was supposed to report what she saw." [Brockton Enterprise, "Flying Saucer is Seen at Middleboro", May 9, 1950]

Illustration:
Donald Keyhoe, The Flying Saucers Are Real, cover illustration, 1950.
Flying saucers (and more broadly unidentified flying objects) were very much the focus of media attention at the time of Mrs. Kelley's report on May 8, 1950. Books such as Keyhoe's work as well as purportedly scientific studies fueled public speculation regarding the existence of such phenomena which in turn prompted reports like that made in Middleborough at the time. There was no later indication as to what Mrs. Kelley may actually have seen flying over East Middleborough in the spring of 1950.

Source:
Brockton Enterprise, "Flying Saucer is Seen at Middleboro", May 9, 1950.