This is a UFO report by a respected Confederate soldier during the Civil War.

This is for the historical record.  It comes from the book, "Blood And Sacrifice."  This is the civil war factual journal of Sergeant Major William Pitt Chambers of the 46th Mississippi Volunteer Infantry Regiment.  Edited by Richard A. Baumgartner and published by Blue Acorn Press, Huntington, WV in 1994.  
As the Regiment was marching toward Rome, GA., in Sherman's Atlanta Campaign, on Page 140, Sgt. Major Chambers records the following:  
"Prior to our arrival at Cave Springs, quite early in the forenoon in fact, a white object was observed in the sky to the southeast, apparently about half a mile high and moving rapidly toward the south.  We decided that it was a balloon, and that the enemy was endeavoring by that means to ascertain the strength of the reinforcements that were coming to Gen. Johnston."  
General Sherman did not have balloons with him on the Atlanta Campaign, so this is a true UFO report.