Columbia, So Car, November 1957November 1957

Insufficient Data

Summary

On November 16, 1957, a person in Columbia, South Carolina reported seeing a single bright yellow oval object moving erratically in the southwestern sky. The object was about the size of a nickel and remained visible for about twenty minutes. During that time, the witness saw it move up, down, and sideways before it faded in the distance toward the southwest.

The object was observed from a ground location, and the witness noted that it appeared at an elevation of about 8 degrees above the horizon and at a compass bearing of roughly 253 degrees (west-southwest). The night was clear with minimal cloud cover.

An Air Force investigation concluded that the object was probably the planet Venus. The file notes that Venus was the most prominent celestial object visible in the evening sky during November 1957 and fits the description of a bright object visible for an extended period. The erratic motion described by the witness, combined with the object's brightness and duration in sight, led investigators to identify it as a well-known astronomical phenomenon rather than an unknown craft.

The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, comprising 9 pages of records.

Reported location

Columbia, So Car, November 1957

Date of incident

November 1957

State / country

? / XX

Page count

9 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 30

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 9

View transcribed text

A " . el : 4 ty oe 3 FR Se : » 2 oo HP 24 " PAS nnn a : ; .
A i 4 ius nm BAILA IR red Sid faa , Rll Ee — LTT —
Baga Bu UFCB INDEX CARD ica
isn esa iia RR LC i
“d rd o 0 Was Balloon
6- dan—-57~ | Columbia, So Car OQ Probably Balloon |
3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION ——|O Possibly Balloon |
RY % O Was Aircraft
16/00302 Nov 57 % rene ido VIR Tea a Probably Aircraft |
0 Air-Visuadl O Air-Intercept Rador 0 Possibly Aireroft
5. PHOTOS 6. SOURCE 0 Was Astronomical gi :
QO Yes Ex Probably Astronomical
No iia | Possibly Astronomical
7. LENGTH OF O35ERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE ib scion
O Insufficient Data for Evaluation : |
Twenty minutes Ona Erratic 0 Unknown |
10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS UG J
Cne oval bright yellow object the sizs of Description, duration, Flight path
nickle. Object was seen moving up, down, and| indicate that this was probably Venus.
sideways in the SW, Object was in sight for
20 minutes.
" |
|
AISOP Form 5 (15 Oct 54) SR
- haa — —_— — ro RAR i WR Hl A it i i La Ee BS TERI Tp ETI) LL

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28974866