John B. Whitted

John B. Whitted was an American commercial airline pilot, formerly a B-29 pilot, who served as co-pilot on Eastern Air Lines Flight 576 on July 24, 1948. Alongside Captain Clarence S. Chiles, he witnessed a glowing, cigar-shaped object approximately 100 feet long with two rows of illuminated windows and flames from its tail, passing their DC-3 near Montgomery, Alabama, at 5,000 feet. The object executed a sharp maneuver and climbed into clouds. This Chiles-Whitted UFO encounter, one of the earliest credible pilot sightings, was investigated by Project Sign, the U.S. Air Force's initial UFO program. Their detailed report contributed to Project Sign's 'Estimate of the Situation,' suggesting extraterrestrial origins, though later rejected by Air Force leadership. No birth or death dates are documented; Whitted provided key eyewitness testimony shaping early UAP research.