Big Spring, TexasApril 1959

On the evening of April 22, 1959, a 14-year-old boy in Big Spring, Texas, saw an object moving rapidly across the sky. The boy watched from the central part of town as the object traveled from south to north, then made a turn toward the west and disappeared from view. The sighting lasted about three minutes. The observer said the object was white and glowing with blue edges, and he noticed it was descending throughout his observation of it.

A second sighting was reported around the same time that night. Another witness, a 13-year-old boy, saw an object he described as round and flat, slightly pointed at each end. The object appeared white or cream in the middle with a reddish-orange color around the edges. This witness also saw the object moving rapidly at first, then slowing down. He watched through binoculars as the object seemed to move at varying speeds, at one point ascending and later going out of sight while climbing straight up to the northwest. This sighting lasted approximately five minutes.

Both observers were schoolboys familiar with the appearance of aircraft. The preparing officer, 1st Lieutenant Roger N. Anderson from Webb Air Force Base, noted that the first observer "appears to be honest and intelligent." The Air Force checked with local Federal Aviation Administration and Air Defense Command agencies, which reported no unusual activity that night. The weather was clear at the time, though the precise cause of the sighting was not determined. The case file notes that approximately twenty T-33 training aircraft were flying in the local area and traffic pattern at various altitudes that evening.

The complete case file, as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below in 7 pages.