Dubuque, IowaMarch 1960

# Dubuque, Iowa, March 4, 1960

On the evening of March 4, 1960, Charles Morris, a commercial pilot with over 5,000 hours of flying experience, was at his home in Dubuque, Iowa, watching a T-6 aircraft perform at low altitude when he and his wife spotted three bright, disc-shaped objects moving across the sky. The objects appeared to be roughly the size of a quarter held at arm's length, traveling northeast at approximately 200 miles per hour from a distance of about five miles away. Morris watched them for roughly four minutes before they climbed slightly and disappeared from view. The objects were described as sharp and clearly outlined, with a brightness somewhere between that of the moon and the planet Venus. They gave off no smoke, vapor trail, or sound.

Morris exposed about 19 feet of 8mm color film of the objects and submitted it to the Air Force for analysis. However, when examined carefully by Air Force analysts at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, the film showed nothing unusual or matching the witness accounts. Other explanations were tested, including the possibility that the objects were B-52 bombers, but no military aircraft were operating in the area at that time, according to initial checks with local radar stations and air defense authorities. Weather conditions that day included clear skies, a temperature of 14 degrees Fahrenheit, and 14-knot winds from the northwest.

The case drew attention from multiple witnesses with varying accounts. Ferdinand Negler and Allan Jones, both using binoculars, reported seeing definite aircraft characteristics including tail fins and wings. Jones mentioned seeing contrails consistent with B-52 bombers, which operate in a radar test course in the region. This led investigators to contact Strategic Air Command headquarters. In a letter dated in response to inquiry, SAC reported that KC-135 tanker aircraft and B-52 bombers had indeed been operating over Dubuque during the time period in question. Meanwhile, a civilian UFO research group conducted its own four-month investigation, ultimately concluding that the objects were most likely military aircraft, though it did not completely rule out unidentified flying objects given the strong testimony of Morris and other witnesses.

The Air Force officially rated this case as "Unidentified" due to insufficient evidence for evaluation. However, significant discrepancies existed between witness accounts regarding altitude, size, and characteristics. The absence of any corroborating film evidence, combined with contradictory details and the later SAC confirmation of military flights in the area that day, left the question unresolved. This full case file has been reproduced below as held by the National Archives, comprising 22 scanned pages.