Project Blue Book Case File
Bolling AFB, WashingtonOctober 1953
Summary
On October 19, 1953, about 2135 (9:35 p.m.), military and civilian witnesses saw an object near Bolling Air Force Base in Washington, D.C. The main witness was an Air Force band sergeant who is an amateur astronomer, along with other band members and a civilian.
The object was a spheroid, white, illuminated object, about the apparent size of a pea. It seemed to glow and had an orange-red exhaust or tail, and looked oblong. No sound was heard. It was first seen at an elevation of 35 to 40 degrees. It came out of the south, appearing to come out of the moonlight, and moved eastward in line with the planet Jupiter. It went slightly upward at about a 20 degree angle for about 25 seconds, then looped and came back the way it had come, staying in view about 25 more seconds. The total sighting was about 50 seconds.
The observers watched mostly with the naked eye, with one brief look through a six power finder. The weather was clear with high ceiling and almost no wind. The witnesses said the object was unlike anything they had seen before. The preparing officer believed that, given the object's size and estimated distance of over ten miles, it was most likely a meteor or other astronomical disturbance. The Air Force listed the case as identified.
Reported location
Bolling AFB, Washington
Date of incident
October 1953
State / country
WA / US
Page count
4 scanned pages
USAF evaluation
unidentified
Microfilm
T1206, Roll 19