Fairchild AFB, WashingtonJuly 1954

On July 3, 1954, at approximately 1840 (6:40 p.m.) Pacific time, personnel at Fairchild Air Force Base in Washington observed an unusual object in the sky. A witness on duty in the control tower reported seeing the object and began taking photographs shortly after 1900 (7:00 p.m.). The object appeared almost directly overhead at first, then moved from northeast to southwest while surface winds were blowing from the south at about five miles per hour. Weather tower personnel at the nearby Geiger base said they had watched the same object throughout the afternoon. A civilian pilot had first reported it around 1400 (2:00 p.m.) when it was over Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

The Air Force scrambled two jet fighters to intercept the object. A first jet climbed to 43,000 feet, and a second F-86D fighter reached an even higher altitude. Both pilots reported the object appeared to be at least 60,000 feet high and resembled an enormous balloon. Geiger's weather station confirmed that favorable winds at 60,000 feet were moving in the direction the object was traveling.

When viewed through 7x50 binoculars (magnification glasses used for distant observation), the object had a teardrop shape. It appeared translucent, as if the observer could see through it, and seemed to have something attached to it that looked like a weather balloon. The sky was very clear with unlimited visibility. The witness took several photographs, including some shot through the binoculars mounted to the camera.

The Air Force technical information sheet noted that the object made no sound. The investigating officers checked weather balloon tracks and found that a balloon was indeed in the area at the time of the sighting. The official evaluation listed the case as unidentified, though the summary data suggested the object "appeared like an enormous balloon." The complete case file, held by the National Archives, comprises 12 scanned pages.