5 MILES E OF MANILA, PHILLIPPINES, November 1954November 1954

Insufficient Data

Summary

On November 23, 1954, a civilian in the Philippines spotted an unusual object in the sky near Manila. The witness, a 37-year-old medical doctor, was about 5 miles east of the city. The object was circular in shape with a flat bottom and measured roughly 55 to 60 feet across and 15 to 20 feet tall. It glowed bright orange and had bright yellow discs attached to it. The object left a trail behind it as it moved.

The witness watched the object for about one minute. The object made no sound as it moved through the sky. Weather conditions at the time were cool and clear with scattered clouds and good visibility. The doctor was the only person to report this sighting in the area. No aircraft were known to be flying in the region at the time.

The object moved northward across the sky at a steady distance and altitude before disappearing from view. The Air Force investigated the report and checked weather patterns and air traffic records. Nothing in those records could explain the sighting.

The Air Force marked this case as "unidentified," meaning the investigators could not determine what the object was or where it came from. The case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, containing 7 pages.

Reported location

5 MILES E OF MANILA, PHILLIPPINES, November 1954

Date of incident

November 1954

State / country

? / XX

Page count

7 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 22

PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD 1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS 28 NOV 54 5 MILES E OF MANILA, PHILLIPPINES Was Balloon Possibly Balloon 3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION Was Aircraft Local Ground-Visual D Ground-Radar Probably Aircraft GMT28/02507 D Air-Visual D Air-Intercept Radar Possibly Aircraft 5. PHOTOS 6. SOURCE Was Astronomical Yes Probably Astronomical No CIVILIAN Possibly Astronomical UNIDENTIFIED 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS 9. COURSE Other One N Insufficient Data for Evaluation min sec Unknown 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS Circular, dome shape with flat bottom, UNIDENTIFIED 65-60 ft in diameter, 15-20 ft in height. Bright orange, had bright yellow discs attached. Exhaust trail. No sound. ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)