East of Grand Rapids, Mich, January 1959January 1959

Insufficient Data

Summary

On January 5, 1959, a witness east of Grand Rapids, Michigan, reported a strange object in the night sky. The sighting happened about 5:13 p.m. local time (2213 GMT) and lasted around 10 to 19 seconds.

The observer glanced out a window and saw one cigar shaped object that looked like a long balloon. It had a large brown flame at its end and made no sound. It appeared in the northwest, about 39 degrees above the horizon, then moved in a straight line to the southeast at an estimated altitude of at least 10,000 feet. The view was lost when a window blocked it.

A radar director noted the sighting could have been a shooting star or a satellite falling from orbit. The Air Force record card listed the case as astronomical, saying the description was characteristic of a meteor.

Reported location

East of Grand Rapids, Mich, January 1959

Date of incident

January 1959

State / country

? / XX

Page count

3 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 35

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 3

View transcribed text

gE » .
: PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD be
i] 1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
O Was Balloon
| 5 Jan 59 East of Grand Rapids, Mich 8 tt A oe pd
3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION piaciacs, dowd
0 Was Aircraft
LOO rare sss — 0 Ground-Vi sval O Ground-Rador Q Probably Airer oft
GMT 2213 0 AirVisvol O Air-Intercept Rador O Possibly Aircraft
4 5. PHOTOS DX Was Astronomical licteor
O Yes O Probably Astronomical
ONeo Military O Possibly Astronomicol
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE BOs
O Insufficient Date for Evaluation
pa 0 Unknown
10 secs one OB
10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS
Qigar shaped obj, looked like long Description is characteristic
1 balloon with large brown flame at end. of meteor.
No sound.
ATIC FORM 329 (REV 20 SEP 32)
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I 4 .

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28981652