Davenport, IowaJanuary 1953

Insufficient Data

Summary

On January 27, 1953, at about 9:00 p.m., two Iowa state highway patrolmen saw an object west of Davenport, Iowa. The Iowa State Highway Patrol called a filter center to report it. No interception was made.

The object was described as a red and white ball of light that hovered, then moved west. It changed color from white to orange to red and back to white, and seemed to glow brighter red as it sped up. It was estimated at several hundred feet in size. The patrolmen drove west to get away from town lights to confirm the sighting.

They said the object appeared to stay in place while they drove a few miles, then moved away from them toward the west. They estimated it traveled about 90 to 100 miles per hour. As it neared the horizon, it hovered and bobbed in one area, then disappeared. The total sighting ended about 9:14 p.m. Weather was clear with good visibility.

The record card lists the conclusion as astronomical, citing Venus. A lighted balloon was scheduled for release nearby around the same time.

Reported location

Davenport, Iowa

Date of incident

January 1953

State / country

IA / US

Page count

5 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 17

| » a \ . rt forse A DEY EE Te i SE a hs dd dl 1. DATE - TINE GROUP ( LOCATION 27 Jan 53 28/03007 Davenport, lowva © 3, SOURCE 10. CONCLUSION 1 Ee Civilian Astro (V ny )) 4. NUMBER OF OBJECTS (ne Venus - 5. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION |11. BRIEF SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS Li, iin, Lizhted Pibzll scheduled relesse fron .oline, Illinois, =t 6. TYPE OF OBSERVATION 0300Z. A traffic patrolman observed a red and wnibe ball of 1izht YW of Davenport. Est size 100! dias, velocity 100 aR rounc-Visus mph - infinite before disappearing. Single source, Atlempbefl’ 7. COURSE to close onl object without succeass, 5r76,0 : 8. PHOTOS 0 Yos ; 1 Ne 9. PHYSICAL EVIDENCE 0 Yos | ZX No FORM FTD sep s3 0-329 (TDE) Previous editions of this form may be used,