Farmington, MichiganNovember 1959

Insufficient Data

Summary

On November 29, 1959, a motorist driving near Farmington, Michigan saw approximately eight small objects flying in formation ahead of his car. The objects were dark on top and light tan on the bottom, roughly the size of a half-dollar coin, and oblong in shape. They appeared to glow as if a searchlight were reflecting off clouds, though no beam was visible. The witness was driving at 40 miles per hour when he spotted them.

The objects flew in a straight line from east to west at an altitude of four to fifteen feet above the ground. They moved through flat farmland without any apparent maneuvering. The entire sighting lasted only a few seconds before the objects disappeared into the clouds. The witness did not stop his vehicle and continued driving until the objects were completely out of sight.

Air Force investigators from Selfridge Air Force Base in Michigan requested additional details from the original witness. They asked whether the objects had been stationary, what the terrain looked like, and at what angle the objects appeared in the sky. The investigator calculated that the objects remained between 75 and 100 feet ahead of the car during the sighting, with an angular elevation of approximately 10 degrees above the horizon.

The Air Force's official evaluation listed the case as "insufficient data for evaluation." The file noted that the sighting could resemble "a flight of birds" and mentioned the light snow conditions at the time, but concluded there was not enough information to form a valid determination about what the witness had seen. The complete case file, consisting of seven pages, is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.

Reported location

Farmington, Michigan

Date of incident

November 1959

State / country

MI / US

Page count

7 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 37

ir: or TT TT ONO PT) DOr HST 12 TH TMCS AS BT 4 vy vce si meet . . PE sets coment rie a l | i | E PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD | yy A A I RT TY 1 TT TS 0 Was Balicon | AZ Tr a, Mi $ 0 Probably Belloon | bi 29 No v 29. | Fermingbon, Michigan 0 Possibly Balloon | 3. DATETIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION A : Vas Aircra | | VAS es Se SM RSE & Ground-VYisudl 0 Ground-Radar 1 ialal i “or. pp. cel hs H | GMT_23/05207 ENE 0 Air Visual 0 Air-Intercept Rader DO Possibly Aircraft | eT a a 8. SOURCE Te 0 Was Astronomical 0 Yes 1 Probebly Astronomical i o hai: of Lr eRe ee 1 Possibly Astronomical 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE Chal DE 2 EDN ! {X Insufficient Data for Eveluction 0 Unknown : approx 5 secs eight @ Fast to West Si] 10. BRIEF SUMMARY CF SIGHTING / 11. COMMENTS : ; Approximately eight objs size of lkalf Sounds like a flight of birds. Weather {dcllar, oblong in shape, dark top, light given as light snow. Objs were very lo tan bottom. Objs disappeared into clouds & flew in front of car moving at 40 mph. traveling in straight line. Objs also appeared as a blur dark on tp & lighter on bottom. There is not encukh data available to form a valid conclusiol : and the case is listed ec insufficient data. ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52) . oR Enable a atin nid EWAN ;