Eglin AFB, FloridaNovember 1957

Unidentified

Summary

On November 25, 1957, radar operators at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida detected two objects flying in formation. The objects appeared normal on radar, with the second object trailing about half a mile behind and to the right of the leader. An airways station near Crestview, Florida reported the sighting to air traffic control, which asked Eglin's radar facility (called RAPCON) for help tracking them.

The objects first flew on a heading of 229 degrees, then turned about 63 degrees over eight minutes and headed toward 272 degrees. They flew at speeds between 63 and 83 knots (roughly 70 to 95 miles per hour). The radar blips stayed visible for approximately 33 minutes before disappearing in the vicinity of Whiting Field, about 31 miles west-northwest of Eglin. Weather conditions were clear that day, with calm surface winds.

When the radar operators reported the sighting, a transport aircraft (a Beechcraft) in the area was diverted to investigate. The pilot reported seeing two lights below an altitude of 3,700 feet but could not confirm what they were. The base's intelligence officer, Captain William M. Lyons, noted that the sighting was unusual but believed the radar returns were probably from conventional aircraft passing through the area. The case was marked unidentified by the U.S. Air Force.

The complete case file, comprising 7 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.

Reported location

Eglin AFB, Florida

Date of incident

November 1957

State / country

FL / US

Page count

7 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 31

I bn se de er To ey er a . J ‘ PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD 1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS 0 Was Balloon 25 November 1957 Eglin AFB, Florida O Probably Balloon Te EE a ee Ee Te | 0 Possibly Balloon 3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION X 0915 Vi ; ¥ O Was Aircroft Laedl emilee O Ground-Visual BP Ground-Rador DX :Probably Aircraft GMT 26/0215% ‘Air Visual DO Air-Intercept Radar |D Possibly Airereft 5.. PHOTOS 8. SOURCE O Was Astronemical QO Yes DO Probebly Astronomical B No Military O Possibly Astronomical 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE [0 jal a) { vf pet ET GE DSR O Insufficient Dato for Evaluation Po 2 SURO £ WEY : 0 Unknown Es oU minutes SEBO WNW, varied 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS Normal radar return of two objects Probably conventional unidentified : vith second obj trailing right wing arch of leader with approximately 1/2 | mile sepawation. ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52) ’ | i; as Sr th bd a CIR SS I LR BE Gd aie er ae Eu !