4 Mi N of Dillingham, AlaskaMay 1960

On May 19, 1960, residents near Dillingham, Alaska saw an unusual object in the sky that caught the attention of multiple witnesses. The object appeared silver and metallic, roughly the size of a car, and displayed several distinctive features: a rounded main body with projections at the ends, a red band running across the middle, two flexible appendages hanging from the bottom that moved in a wave-like motion, and a half-moon-shaped device on the underside that spun at varying speeds.

The sighting lasted about an hour and involved observers at close range as well as from a distance. A deaf-mute witness and his brother saw the object pass within 50 to 100 feet of their location, creating a powerful suction force strong enough to lift two empty five-gallon fuel cans into the air and scatter grass across a meadow. The object moved slowly at first, staying low to the ground, then suddenly climbed at high speed. A pilot flying near the area at 2,500 feet also spotted the object at an estimated 10,000 feet, describing it as round and silver with smaller objects attached below it. Witnesses reported a whirring, sucking sound as the object ascended.

Air Force investigators interviewed the witnesses and gathered detailed descriptions. The file notes that the native observers had historically proved reliable in reporting unusual events in Alaska. However, an important clue emerged from weather records: the 705th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron at King Salmon was tracking a weather balloon with a radar reflector in the area at the same time. The balloon's movements and the wind direction seemed consistent with the sighting's details.

Despite the weather balloon correlation, the investigating officer, Captain Thomas M. Conrow, noted in his report that no entirely satisfactory explanation emerged. The file concludes that the object was probably a weather balloon, though the details of the sighting, particularly the suction effect and the witnesses' confidence that it was metallic and not a balloon, created some uncertainty.

The full case file, comprising 13 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.