★★★★★★★★★★ — High Credibility
Score: 7/10
This is one of the stronger early twentieth-century cases because it involves multiple naval witnesses, an identifiable and highly credible principal observer, and a contemporary official report. However, the fact that Schofield himself apparently regarded the objects as meteors is significant and prevents me from rating it higher.
Category
Witness Reliability:
Contemporary Documentation:
Independent Corroboration:
Physical/Instrumental Evidence:
Resistance to Conventional Explanation:
Score
2/2
2/2
1/2
0/2
2/2
Assessment
Three shipboard observers reportedly witnessed the phenomenon, including naval officer Frank H. Schofield.
Excellent for such an early case. Schofield's account was recorded contemporaneously rather than reconstructed during the later UFO era.
Three witnesses reportedly observed the event, but they were aboard the same vessel and constitute one observational group.
No photographs, radar, recovered material, or other objective evidence.
The reported formation and apparent change in elevation are unusual, but a meteor/bolide explanation remains serious—particularly because Schofield himself apparently interpreted them as meteors.
1904 USS Supply Sighting
February 28, 1904 - Pacific Ocean
At 6:10 a.m. local time, three crew members aboard the USS Supply witnessed one of the earliest and most intriguing aerial sightings in recorded naval history. They observed three mysterious objects flying in an echelon formation that first appeared low on the horizon beneath a layer of clouds, heading directly toward the ship.
As the objects drew closer, they suddenly began to climb. Rising above the cloud layer, they continued ascending rapidly until they appeared to disappear into space, all while maintaining their precise echelon formation. The leading object was described as egg-shaped and approximately six times the apparent size of the Sun, while the other two were smaller and perfectly round.
Among the witnesses was Frank Herman Schofield, a distinguished officer who would later become one of the most respected admirals in the history of the U.S. Navy. Born in New York in 1869, Schofield served with distinction during both the Spanish-American War and the First World War. In January 1904, he also served as Acting Governor of Guam. After an extraordinary 47-year naval career, he was promoted to Commander in Chief, Battle Force, with the rank of Admiral before retiring in 1933. He died in Maryland in 1942.
Schofield's involvement makes this account particularly noteworthy. As a highly decorated and widely respected naval officer with an impeccable reputation, he had little to gain by reporting such an unusual event. His testimony serves as an early reminder that reports of unexplained aerial phenomena have often come from experienced, credible observers rather than simply from individuals dismissed as unreliable or unstable.
Although Schofield later referred to the objects as meteors traveling at great speed, several aspects of the sighting do not fit the behavior of a typical high-velocity meteor. Their orderly echelon formation, apparent
controlled climb above the cloud layer, and continued ascent until they seemingly vanished into space are characteristics that differ significantly from the brief, linear path normally associated with meteors. These unusual details have helped keep the incident alive as one of the earliest and most fascinating cases in UFO history.