20 miles SW of Los Angeles, CaliforniaMay 1954

Unidentified

Summary

On May 22, 1954, at 11:30 p.m., a civilian airline pilot reported an object 20 miles southwest of Los Angeles, California. The object flew at 25,000 to 30,000 feet at a speed of 1,500 miles per hour on a course of 220 degrees. It left a long fluorescence trail. The sighting was reported by Pit SW Off at March Air Force Base in California. The Air Force concluded the sighting was astronomical and likely a meteor.

Reported location

20 miles SW of Los Angeles, California

Date of incident

May 1954

State / country

CA / US

Page count

3 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 20

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 3

View transcribed text

PROJECT 10073 RECORD

1. DATE / TIME GROUP
22 MAY 54
23/0307Z

2. LOCATION
20 miles SW of Los Angeles, California

3. SOURCE
civilian air lines

4. NUMBER OF OBJECTS
one

5. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION
not reported

6. TYPE OF OBSERVATION
air visual

7. COURSE
sw

8. PHOTOS
D Yes
R No

9. PHYSICAL EVIDENCE
D Yes
D No

10. CONCLUSION
WAS ASTRONOMICAL: METEOR

11. BRIEF SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS
Sighting descriptive of meteor observation. Reported by Pit SW Off, March AFB, California.

Object reported at 25 to 30,000 ft. Speed - 1,500 mph. Left long florescence trail. Course 220 degrees.

FORM
FTD SEP 45 0-329 (TDE) Previous editions of this form may be used.

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28958262