Cincinnati, OhioDecember 1957

# Cincinnati, Ohio, December 1957: Motion Picture Film of Unknown Object

In December 1957, a Cincinnati resident filmed what he believed to be an unidentified flying object. The short film clip showed a very bright, round object that the observer said appeared larger than the moon. According to the observer, the object hung or hovered in the sky without making any sound.

The film itself presented a puzzle. It measured only three-quarters of an inch and contained just four frames showing the object. The object appeared as a bright speck on a dark background. The film also contained other scenes that appeared to span multiple seasons, with images ranging from trees in full leaf to a snowy landscape. The observer could not provide the exact date of the sighting, only that it occurred sometime during the second week of December.

The Air Force's analysis compared the filmed object to several possibilities. An astronomical check established that a full or nearly full moon appeared on December 6, 7, and 8, 1957, which aligned with the observer's approximate date range. Investigators also noted that Venus was unusually bright during that same period, as reflected in newspaper and science journal coverage of the time. However, they concluded the image in the film was too large to be Venus, unless a telephoto lens had been used. They found no reports of unusual activity from radar units, military or civilian flights, or other observers in the area during a three-week window around the sighting. The Air Force ultimately concluded the object in the film was the moon, though investigators noted they could not explain why the observer had waited over four months to submit the film.

The complete case file, held by the National Archives, comprises 23 pages of records.