Cincinnati, OhioMay 1957

Unidentified

Summary

In May 1957, a Cincinnati resident observed a single object in the sky for about 14 minutes. The witness described it as round, slightly larger than a baseball, with fuzzy or blurred edges and an orange color with a tail. The object appeared very high in the sky, at an estimated altitude of 10 to 15 miles. There was no sound, and it moved from southwest to north before disappearing below the horizon.

During the Air Force's interview with the observer, investigators learned that the witness held strong beliefs about UFOs and claimed they have a base on the moon. The witness also reported having seen a similar object 11 years earlier near St. Louis, Missouri. The Air Force noted these details in their case file, suggesting they viewed the observer's background and prior claims as relevant context for evaluating the sighting.

The Air Force investigated the sighting as a possible aircraft. The case file indicates evaluators considered it a "probable aircraft sighting based on duration and description," though the record card also lists "balloon" and "probably balloon" among possible explanations. The exact reasoning behind these assessments does not appear clearly in the available OCR text. The Air Force ultimately classified the sighting as unidentified, meaning investigators could not conclusively match it to any known object or phenomenon.

The complete case file, as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below in its 10 scanned pages.

Reported location

Cincinnati, Ohio

Date of incident

May 1957

State / country

OH / US

Page count

10 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 27

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 10

View transcribed text

; ' PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD :
3 RE rye
: BET 2. LOCATION he CONCLUSIONS
i £1 Vos Balloon
3. AACE Ha py SGI Ree i A 4 0) Probably Balioon
$ 2 May 1957 lL Cincinnalld, Lai0 (w] Possi bly Balloon \
3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION A |
Re NOE er 00 Wos Ai fi |
Local ea LOW pM led T1Ground- Visual J Ground-Rodar x BrSLRkly Aiverats
oMT_ 03/0209 7 0 Air-Visual O Air-Intercept Rador O Possibly Aircroft
] "5. PHOTOS 8. SOURCE 0 Was Astronomical |
0 Yes 0 Probably Astronomical
i rae O Possibly Astronomical
S00 mame 0 oo LCdvilian oo
SE 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE Peet RRR fA SN ARES
: 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 0 Insufficient Data for Evaluation
0 Unknown
14 minutes one SW. to N i
: 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS |
One object, size little larger than Interview learned that this
’ baseball, round w/fuzzy or blurred observer firmly belives in
edges, color orange w/tail, object UFO's and that they have a base
| appeared very high 10 to 15 miles, no on the moon, Claims to have
o A : : 3 ; ae
sound and disappeared below horizon. seen similar object 1liy years
| ago near St, Louis, Missouri.
1 Probable afc sighting baszd on 3
duration and description, }
ATIC FORM 329 (REV 28 SEP 52)
¢
/
i /
4 .

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28969811