BOOKLEY AFB, ALABAMANovember 1953

Insufficient Data

Summary

On November 28, 1953, at dawn, two civilian police officers at Bookley Air Force Base in Alabama saw a flat, round object that looked about the size of a grapefruit or apple. The object appeared pale blue and flew in a straight, level path with no sudden changes in direction. One observer happened to spot it and asked another witness what type of aircraft it might be. The sighting lasted approximately 20 to 23 minutes.

The object first appeared at an angle of elevation around 77 degrees and bearing roughly north-northeast. It slowly moved across the sky and disappeared at an angle of about 45 degrees, bearing roughly west. The observers reported that weather conditions were clear, with only one small cloud to the west.

One of the witnesses, an airman, told investigators that in his opinion the object appeared to be a star. The Air Force concluded the sighting was astronomical and identified the object as the planet Jupiter. According to the file, Jupiter would have been visible at that time and location at an altitude of about 35 degrees and bearing roughly west.

The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, consisting of 7 pages.

Reported location

BOOKLEY AFB, ALABAMA

Date of incident

November 1953

State / country

AL / US

Page count

7 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 20

| EE —— I. DATE.. TIME \;ROUP 2. LOCATION | 28 Nov 53 2400 DBOOKLEY AFB, ALABAMA | 3. SOURCE 10. CONCLUSION : CIVILIAN ASTRONOMICAL: JUPITER Observer stated it appeared to be sta | 4. NUMBER OF OBJECTS Jupiter 5h30min, 270 deg az, 35 deg one elev at dawn. S. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION |1). BRIEF SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS : 20 min Object was flat, round, flew straight and level, no manuevers, 6. TYPE OF OBSERVATION 5 FUpes aovenss. nye d visual 7. COURSE : West : 8. PHOTOS 0 Yes 20 Ne 9. PHYSICAL EVIDENCE 0 Yes 0 Ne FORM “ik FTD sep 63 0-329 (TDE) provicus oditions of this form may bo used. |