BARTER ISLAND, ALASKAFebruary 1953

On the morning of February 8, 1953, two Air Force pilots stationed at Barter Island, Alaska witnessed an unusual object descending from the west in a falling-leaf pattern. Captain Robert T. Barnes first spotted the object around 4:50 a.m. while working on an aircraft. He heard an unfamiliar sound and looked up to see a large, round, brilliant white object dropping from approximately 5,000 feet. The object moved side to side as it fell, covering an estimated 200 feet with each lateral movement.

Within about 45 seconds, the object had descended to roughly 2,000 feet directly above the base buildings, where it hovered for approximately 45 seconds. While hovering, the object blinked out twice in very brief intervals. Captain Barnes, who had 1,700 hours of flying experience, estimated the object's size at 30 to 40 feet in diameter, smaller than a C-47 transport plane. He noticed small ray-like appendages on the lower sides of the object but could not determine whether they were solid or beams of light. The light itself was described as brilliant white, similar to white-hot metal, but it did not illuminate the surrounding area and left no afterglow when it switched off.

The sound emanating from the object resembled that of large electric generators and was not particularly loud. Captain Barnes noted that it seemed to act like a controlled craft, even drifting slightly against the wind while hovering. After holding position, the object climbed back upward using the same side-to-side pattern it had used while descending. As it ascended and moved eastward, it blinked regularly at intervals of about one minute. First Lieutenant Lewis B. Griffin, who was driving a vehicle in the area, arrived in time to see the object when it was directly overhead at an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 feet. Both men watched it continue eastward for approximately two more minutes before it faded from view, apparently gaining speed and taking on an orange tint as it climbed.

Air Force investigators suspected the object might have been a PIBAL, a weather balloon equipped with a radar reflector and light source released for upper-air observations. A PIBAL had been launched from Barter Island around 3:15 a.m., and several characteristics of the sighting matched what a lighted weather balloon might look like: the falling-leaf oscillation pattern, the blinking, and the general trajectory. However, the timing did not correlate exactly, and the investigators noted that the start time of the balloon release might have been misrecorded. The preparing officer concluded it was probable that the two pilots had mistaken the balloon's light for an unconventional aircraft. A final evaluation noted insufficient data, and the file states that observers planned to witness an actual PIBAL release to compare it with their sighting.

The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, comprising 8 pages of microfilm.