Dayton, Ohio Clinton County AFB, OhioMarch 1957

Unidentified

Summary

On the night of March 24, 1957, a bright flash of white light streaked across the sky above Clinton County Air Force Base in Ohio, moving from west to east. The object was visible for only three to five seconds, but it was brilliant enough to light up the cockpit of a nearby C-46 cargo aircraft for two or three seconds. The object trailed a reddish glow that was roughly half the size of the main flash.

The sighting was investigated by Air Force personnel, including the C-46 pilot and Captain Stewart F. Marrs, the assistant operations officer at the base. The investigators noted that the object maintained a level flight path and that the light faded rapidly as it disappeared from view. No photographs were taken.

In their analysis, Air Force investigators concluded that the sighting was probably caused by a fireball meteor, a particularly bright meteor entering the Earth's atmosphere. The description of the object, its duration, flight path, and manner of disappearance all pointed toward this natural explanation. The case was ultimately marked as unidentified, though the file indicates a probable meteor origin.

The full case file, consisting of 12 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.

Reported location

Dayton, Ohio Clinton County AFB, Ohio

Date of incident

March 1957

State / country

OH / US

Page count

12 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 27

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 12

View transcribed text

a !
1 PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD ;
1. DATE : 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
Dag OI hi0 O Was Belloon
D9 ai. ho 1057 Clinton Couty AFB Ohio 0 Probably Balloon |
3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION oun RA Retin
; : § 3 Was Aircraft
ES en ce 8.Ground- Visual 0 Ground-Radar 0 Probably Aircraft |
GMT 24/03002Z i 0 Air~Visuadl O Air-Intercep? Radar 0 Possibly Aircrait
| 3. PHOTOS ¢ | 4. SOURCE oe 00 Was Astronomical Mo toor :
0 Yes . . | BX Probably Astronomical
; BY 8 No Mil itary O Possibly Astronomical
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE ofa) SSN
i O insufficient Dato for Evaluation
iin ; : 0 Unknown ’ :
Lares to five seconds one W to E :
hn, BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS
B | One white flash of lights seen moving |Description, duration, flight path
from west to east on a level flight manner of disappearance (fading peer a
path, Object had a reddish trail one- |rapidly) indicate that this sight-| |
half the size of the flash, Object 1 ing was probably caused bya fire-
illuminated C-46 cockpit for 2-3 ball meteor, :
seconds, Object was s=2en visually for
| | three to five seconds.
: ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)
4 | :

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28969380