Brooklyn, New YorkNovember 1958

On the evening of November 23, 1958, a tower operator at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, New York, looked up and saw a stationary light in the sky. The observer described it as orange or light orange in color. The object appeared to the east at roughly 65 degrees elevation (well above the horizon). It did not move.

The observer watched the object for approximately one hour before losing sight of it. He could not say exactly how it disappeared. The Air Force later questioned whether the object was truly stationary, since the observer had mentioned seeing it move past stars. This raised a puzzle: if it was moving, then its direction should have changed, but the observer reported that its compass bearing (called azimuth) was the same when it vanished as when he first spotted it.

Air Force investigators at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio analyzed the available information. They noted that weather conditions at the time showed clear skies and good visibility in the Brooklyn area. They also noted that the planet Mars was visible in the eastern sky at roughly the same time, positioned at approximately 35 degrees elevation in the east. The investigators concluded that the sighting was probably the result of observing the planet Mars, which can appear quite bright and colorful to the naked eye, especially when viewed near the horizon.

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