On August 15, 1950, Nicholas Mariana, the general manager of the Great Falls Electrics minor league baseball team, filmed two unidentified flying objects over the city. The 16-second color footage, one of the first of its kind, captured two bright, silvery objects flying in formation and became a significant piece of evidence in the early history of UFO research.1 The film sparked a decades-long debate and an investigation by the U.S. Air Force that remains controversial.2
The Sighting and Film
While inspecting the baseball field at Legion Stadium, Mariana and his secretary, Virginia Raunig, witnessed a bright flash in the sky. They observed two objects rotating as they moved across the sky at an estimated speed of 200-400 mph.3 Mariana retrieved his 16mm movie camera from his car and managed to capture the objects on film. The footage, though brief, clearly shows two white dots moving against the blue sky. The case gained national attention and was one of the first to be supported by seemingly credible photographic evidence.1
Investigation and Controversy
The film was analyzed by the U.S. Air Force as part of Project Blue Book. Initially, the Air Force concluded the objects were reflections from two F-94 fighter jets known to be in the area.4 However, this explanation was contested, and the case remains officially unresolved. A major point of contention is Mariana's claim that the most explicit frames of his film, which he said showed the objects as rotating discs, were removed by the Air Force during their analysis—a claim supported by others who viewed the film before it was surrendered.5 The original footage is now held in the U.S. National Archives.2