15-20 Mi W of Jolliet, IllinoisNovember 1957

Insufficient Data

Summary

On November 26, 1957, at 0630 hours (6:30 a.m. CST), a 31-year-old former Air Force pilot who was then a captain in the Indiana Air National Guard saw an unidentified object while flying an F-86A fighter jet at 44,000 feet about 15 to 20 miles west of Joliet, Illinois. The pilot was flying eastward at the time.

The pilot described the object as yellowish in color, roughly the size of a nickel when held at arm's length against the windshield. At first it appeared hazy and stationary. As he continued flying, the object appeared to move and took on sharper outlines. The pilot observed it for approximately 10 minutes while attempting to close the distance. He contacted Chicago Air Traffic Control by radio to report the sighting and referred the report to the Air Defense Command at Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Michigan.

About five minutes after the object disappeared, fading into the distance and turning slightly to the left, the pilot noticed three B-47 bombers flying eastward at 33,000 feet. He tried unsuccessfully to contact them by radio to verify whether they had observed the object.

The Air Force investigator concluded that the sighting was likely explained by B-47 contrails (condensation trails) that were illuminated by the rising sun from below and behind the pilot's aircraft. The investigator believed that under the clear sky conditions the pilot reported, this reflection could have appeared as an unusual phenomenon at the relative angles of the F-86 and the B-47s. Investigators contacted all radar stations and fighter squadrons in the area and found no corroborating reports of unusual sightings or aircraft activity at that time and location.

The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives (32 pages).

Reported location

15-20 Mi W of Jolliet, Illinois

Date of incident

November 1957

State / country

IL / US

Page count

32 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 31

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 32

View transcribed text

2 a AE ———— Fei wd.
x g
» \
\ . PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD ;
tL Rank Sichting - BESAVION 15-20 Mi W of 12. CONCLUSIONS :
0630 CST Ti Qin ihe
25 Nov 987 sl 4 Doe 57 Jolliet, Iilino = SER arR
3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION RB Fessiply. Batlonh
[peat ¢ 1336 TR Sk ad NER 0 Ground- Visual O Ground-Radar o LE Ral 145 MEERN
( GMT____20/ 12307 Bio BxAir Visual 0 Air-interesapt Radar 0 Possibly Aircroft
5. PHOTOS - SOURCE D Was Astronomical
QO Yas D Probably Astronomicul
0:No : | Civilian, Indiana ANG Pilnt 9 dL Me Ladle ils
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE Se] 1 SiG Sd ENA
D Insufficient Doto for Evaluation
; 0 Unknown
10 minutes | one Ln Le ba RR
10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING : 11. COMMENTS investigator contacted
A 31 year old former USAF pilot, now AC&W and FIS units in the area &
an ANG Capt flew an F-86A at £0,000 3 id two ADiv. No record of unusual i |
on 26 Nov, While W of Jolliet, 111 at sightings was found. No other per-
0630 CST, he observed an obj about siz¢ sons appeared to have seen the
of nickel first stationary, later disa- object except the source, It appears
ppearing eastward and slightly to the | probable that the B-47's at onc
north, Source observed obj for about 14 time crossed the flight-path of the
minutes. When obj disappeared, source F-86, It also appears probable chat
noticed 3 B-47's at 33,000 ft. Attemptgd their contrails reflected by the
to contact them but was not succassfull rising sun behind & below appear-
when he sighted UXO he notified Chicago ed to the F-86 pilot to be an
a LE IE radio, Rpt was conveyed to unusual phenomena. As the sun
ADCC 30A Div_WRAFS, Michigan, 1 rose sighting could have disappahrc
ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)
[J
i ad RC Ca Lat aE GRA dn sable wn

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28975272