Fontana, CaliforniaMarch 1957

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Summary

# Summary: Fontana, California, March 1957

On March 17, 1957, a service station attendant in Fontana, California saw a cigar-shaped object with a large red light on it. The object was hovering near March Air Force Base when the witness first spotted it. The witness watched for three or four minutes as the object moved and then faded out of view.

The Air Force investigated the sighting using binoculars and checked weather conditions at the time. The sky had broken clouds left over from an earlier thunderstorm. An aircraft was reported overhead moving east during the observation period.

After reviewing the evidence, the Air Force concluded the sighting was probably caused by a balloon. The description, hovering behavior, and flight path all pointed in that direction, according to the investigating officers.

The full case file, consisting of 8 pages, is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.

Reported location

Fontana, California

Date of incident

March 1957

State / country

CA / US

Page count

8 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 27

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 8

View transcribed text

|
| PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD
A nr $1 RRA Ae A nS et Rp mg mM heal. ek Een ea ttn pd tn ep AA A A A ab le eR rr AE Al Et eA AEE tn le A rn et AR
1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
\ wl : 0 Was Balloon
17 March 1937 Fontana, California {8 ReaBonly Balloon
3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION EL iressialy, saison
i : ¢ 0 Was Aircraft
Local EE RAR £:Ground- Visual o Ground Radar a Probably Aireraf?
CMT_15/0022% 0 Air- Visual 0 Air-Intercept Radar O Possibly Aircraft
5. PHOTOS 4. SOURCE O Yas Astronomical
0 Yes 0 Probably Astronomical
“ONo Civilian 0 Possibly Astronomical
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION |'8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE Elo Ot hep ds Pile inv ii
0 Insutficiant Dota for Evaluation
bids : H : O Unknown
three or four mins | ons hovering
10, BRIE® SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS
One cigar shaped object with a large Description, hovering , flight i
red light on it. Object was seen hover-| path indicate that this sizhting
ing over March AFB, then started moving was probably caused by a balloon. |
and faded out. Object was seen visually
for 3 or + minutes, :
|
| |
| A Fadl tale, \ 7 LC &
| |
ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)
LJ

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28969251