Between Amarillo & El Paso, TexasJuly 1957

On July 22, 1957, a Trans World Airlines pilot flying from Chicago to Tucson spotted an unidentified object in the sky near Amarillo, Texas. The pilot reported that the object suddenly appeared in his flight path at 15,000 feet altitude and had lights. Concerned about a collision, the pilot abruptly altered course to avoid it. The incident received attention from local newspapers and eventually caught the notice of the U.S. Air Force and the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA), the federal agency that oversees civilian aviation.

The Civil Aeronautics Administration investigated the encounter and reached a conclusion fairly quickly. Officials determined that the "unidentified" object was in fact another aircraft displaying proper navigation lights. Although the true identity of the aircraft was never pinned down with certainty, investigators believed it was likely a U.S. Air Force KC-97 tanker aircraft that was known to be operating in the area at the time. The presence of another plane traveling the same route explained the lights the TWA pilot had seen and why a collision risk had seemed real. With that determination made, what had appeared mysterious at first glance became explainable, and the Air Force classified the case as involving an unidentified aircraft rather than anything truly unknown.

The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, 14 pages.