Project Blue Book Case File
Elmendorf, AFB, AlaskaJanuary 1956
Summary
On January 18, 1956, a control tower operator at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, saw a strange object in the night sky. The Greenwich time was 0442Z on January 19. The observer was military, a tower operator with seven years of experience, described as completely reliable.
The object looked like a rocket exhaust. No solid body could be seen ahead of the glow. It was about the size of a half dollar and ran from orange yellow to white. The exhaust was about two or three times as long as its diameter. It moved very fast and level, parallel to the horizon, from east to west. It passed out of sight after about two to three seconds. The witness said he had made an almost identical observation earlier, except that movement was from west to east.
The weather was mostly clear with some haze. The witness said the object did not fall like a meteor. The case is filed under Project 10073, the Air Force's official record for unidentified flying object reports. A later review concluded the object may have been a meteor coming almost directly toward the observer, and the Air Force conclusion on the card was astronomical (meteor).
Reported location
Elmendorf, AFB, Alaska
Date of incident
January 1956
State / country
AK / US
Page count
3 scanned pages
USAF evaluation
unknown
Microfilm
T1206, Roll 24