Baltimore, MarylandJuly 1955

Unidentified

Summary

In July 1955, a person in Baltimore, Maryland saw a silvery, spherical object in the sky, roughly four feet in diameter. The object appeared to be blown by the wind toward the source of the sighting and eventually landed near a fence. When it hit the fence, the object began to evaporate or dissolve without leaving any trace behind. The witness described the object as appearing to be made up of many small bubbles, each about the size of a pencil eraser.

The U.S. Air Force's Investigation and Evaluation Center investigated the report as part of Project Blue Book, the military's official UFO study program. After examining the available evidence, the Air Force could not identify the object with certainty. While the investigation noted several possible explanations (including that it might be a balloon, possibly a weather balloon, or possibly an aircraft), none could be confirmed. No physical evidence was recovered from the site.

The file notes that the sighting was brief, lasting approximately four minutes, and was observed from the ground. The object's unusual appearance and its behavior of simply dissolving on contact with the fence made it difficult to classify. The case was officially designated as unidentified by the U.S. Air Force, meaning the phenomenon could not be explained by any conventional aircraft, balloon, or astronomical event documented at the time.

The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, spanning 10 pages.

Reported location

Baltimore, Maryland

Date of incident

July 1955

State / country

MD / US

Page count

10 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 23

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 10

View transcribed text

{ Ct 2 J ..
i Sani gd HoH UFCB INDEX CARD i. |
ol. : on ov i AT! sn DR §
| i ENF TT re 2. LOCATION / 112. concLusions
vr i QO Woes Balloon
|? July 1955 2altimore, Maryland E Probably Balloon
3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4 TYPE OF OBSERVATION 8 Possibly Balloon
: Local Rr ee OAR 8 Ground- Visual 0 Ground-Radar ] dtp i
| GMT a OQ AirVisual (m) Air-Intercept Rader [0 Possibly Aircraft
; 5. PHOTOS E0 © BOUREE "een CCIPY Rader Wes Aspssnmicn :
E Physical Evidence : | a probally i
1 : (®] 0ssibly Astronomical
HB No Civilian Fm ly SE
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 3. COURSE X Othe, 204° Sully
: | | 5 insufficient Decta for Evaluation
1 Pour (4) Mirutes Orne (1) See Description i |
: 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING : One, spherical, 81lver|!!- COMMENTS | i
object, approx, four (4) fat in diameter, re. : |
| [221% tn size. to three (3) pest oi diameter, | pif sight a ts, 2Rother ssp ube, |
| |%epeared to be blown by a "pont wind toward tho) yii° ®18hting was izvestigated seq in
| [SOURCE, landing avout tons won hin. The object (x0 PLNlen of the Preparing opps. 18
™as blown against a fence, where it began to Ha. ol Biv Sighting ou. ge raved |
: evaporate or dissolve, without leaving any trac Seb the id Fivsase at higiT |
1 on fence, The- object appeared as a mass of +1 on 28 Feb 55 fis ar ‘a i Lid 3
i bubbles, each bubble about the size of 5 pencil of the h teal phon, Bp iy |
i Sraser. Physical evidence of substance ang r P 7% TIC sto nis "ill be 1
| terial upon which 1t lagged | orwarded to ATI with a Copy of the 112
| [ma | ad when returned from ADC Publications |
1 ADP Berm 8 (58 Our day 7 70 : (iss |
Cm Ur SE FT STP ETRY

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28962636