Belfast, Me., June 1958June 1958

On June 26, 1958, a state police sergeant and several residents of the Belfast, Maine area reported seeing a bright orange or amber light in the sky roughly five miles south-southwest of town. The object appeared about the size of a baseball, moved in erratic patterns (left to right, then down toward the ground, then back up), and gave the appearance of looking directly into a bright flashlight beam. The sergeant watched it for about ten minutes before heavy fog rolled in and obscured it from view. Sightings were also reported on June 27 and 28 and again on July 11, with observers describing the same light changing colors from white to bright amber.

The U.S. Air Force investigated the reports between late July and early August 1958. Investigators confirmed that radar sites detected nothing unusual on the dates in question, and that no military or civilian aircraft were operating in the area due to weather. A helicopter search found no reflective materials that might have caused such a sighting. Investigators also obtained weather records showing overcast, rainy, and foggy conditions on all four nights of the reported sightings.

On July 28, investigators consulted Dr. W.F. Chambers, an astronomer at the University of Vermont. Based on the direction of the sighting relative to the Big Dipper star group, Dr. Chambers identified the object as the star Arcturus. When investigators later observed the same star themselves through binoculars and a telescope on July 23, it appeared to "jump" due to the motion of the observers, and its color shifted from white to bright amber as fog and mist passed between them and the star. The star did not change position or move about, contrary to what the witnesses had reported. The Air Force concluded that all four sightings were of the star Arcturus, whose varying brightness and color changes were caused by fog coverage of differing density passing in front of it. The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, comprising 16 pages.