Boyce, LouisianaJuly 1960

On the evening of July 27, 1960, a woman in Boyce, Louisiana looked out her window while preparing for bed and spotted an unusual object in the sky. She watched it for three hours without seeing it disappear.

The object started out about the size of a dime but grew to roughly the size of a softball. It changed colors, glowing red, white, and light green. The woman reported that it seemed to shrink and expand in size repeatedly. At times a red circle appeared around the object. Rather than moving across the sky, the object appeared to hover in place, making small movements up, down, left, and right. At one point, a flash of light seemed to appear while the object was stationary.

The Air Force investigated by checking the area for any lights or reflections that might have caused the sighting. The investigating officer noted that the witness appeared sincere and was actually embarrassed by how much attention she had paid to the phenomenon. No other witnesses were present to corroborate the sighting. The file mentions that a similar sighting had been reported from the same organization on July 26, 1962.

The Air Force concluded that the object was probably a planet or star, with its appearance distorted by refraction in the atmosphere (the bending of light as it passes through layers of air at different temperatures and densities). The case remains classified as unidentified in the Air Force's records. The full case file, comprising 8 pages, is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.