Camden, New JerseyAugust 1957

On the morning of August 23, 1957, a man named Ballassar Bottos was driving to work in Camden, New Jersey, when he noticed something unusual in the sky. Between 7:00 and 7:10 a.m., he spotted a bell-shaped, silver object that glowed. To him, it looked about the size of a grapefruit held at arm's length. He watched it climb, dip, and disappear toward the northeast, getting smaller as it moved away. The whole sighting lasted roughly one minute. He saw no tail, trail, exhaust, or any other distinctive features, and heard no sound.

Bottos was a retired Navy Chief Petty Officer and had observer training from his naval service. He told investigators that he had been watching for this object nearly every day for the past week on his commute. He also mentioned that he had recently read books about flying saucers. When questioned about his expectations, he said he believed the objects would eventually land and contact him personally, though he had no idea when.

Investigators interviewed Bottos on August 30, 1957, and also checked the weather records. The U.S. Weather Bureau in Philadelphia reported no unusual weather or celestial activity on August 23. However, the bureau did note that weather balloons are launched daily from Philadelphia Municipal Airport at midnight and 6:00 a.m. local time. When investigators followed up, they learned that a balloon had been released at 7:00 a.m. that morning, which matched the time and location of the sighting.

Bottos had taken a photograph of the object. A military photo analyst examined it and concluded that the image showed either a balloon or the full moon. The photo analyst also stated that the fuzzy quality of the image was caused by camera movement during exposure, not by movement of the object itself. On the basis of this evidence, the Air Force marked the case as "Was Balloon."

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