Cincinnati, OhioJune 1953

On the evening of June 1, 1953, a man sitting on his family porch in Cincinnati, Ohio saw an unusual object moving across the sky. He watched it change color from white to orange to red as it traveled in a flat, level path. The object moved across the face of a large moon before disappearing into the distance. The witness estimated the object was about 15 to 30 feet across and said it appeared solid and opaque, with no glow, fuzz, or protrusions around its edges.

The witness reported the sighting to an official on June 2, 1953 at 4:30 p.m. His wife was with him during the observation and also saw the object. According to the witness's account, his wife had previously seen a similar object in the summer of 1952 that was larger and lower in the sky. The witness compared what he saw to common objects that might produce the same appearance in the sky, mentioning the moon (but smaller), a lit lemon, an orange, or a red plate.

When asked for his opinion about what he had seen, the witness said he was willing to accept that it might have been an interplanetary spacecraft. He estimated the object's speed at 400 nautical miles per hour and calculated that it was about 10,000 feet away. The witness had educational training in aeronautics and engineering and had served in the U.S. Army Air Forces, suggesting some familiarity with aviation and aircraft.

The Air Force evaluation concluded the sighting was "unknown." Cincinnati newspapers had reported that many people observed what they believed was a meteorite that evening, but the Air Force's final assessment did not commit to that explanation. The full case file, consisting of 11 pages, is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.