Project Blue Book Case #721. On May 7, 1950, a bright object was observed over East Ely, Nevada — a tiny mining community in the vast emptiness of central Nevada. Ely sits at over 6,400 feet elevation in the high desert, surrounded by mountain ranges and dry valleys extending in every direction.
Central Nevada in 1950 was among the most sparsely populated regions in the continental United States. The nearest significant air traffic came from military operations at the Nevada Test Site (over 200 miles to the south) and commercial flights far overhead. Any unusual object in this remote landscape was immediately conspicuous.
The case was classified "Unknown" — from one of the emptiest and most isolated landscapes in America.