Fox River Grove, IllinoisNovember 1956

On the evening of November 16, 1956, a 14-year-old boy in Fox River Grove, Illinois reported seeing an unusual object in the sky. The boy watched for 73 minutes as the object changed shape and was joined by smaller craft. The sighting took place in an area under the approach route to Chicago, one of the busiest air traffic corridors in the United States, roughly 25 miles from the city.

According to the boy's account, the object first appeared as a bright, dull red dot. It then transformed into a cigar shape. Three much smaller, round objects seemed to converge on the main object during the sighting. The witness initially described the central object's size in simple terms, but later in his account mentioned seeing instruments, engines, and smaller craft attached to it. This shift in his description raised questions about the reliability of his observations.

The Air Force investigator noted certain inconsistencies in the witness's account. The examiner wrote that while the boy had "undoubtedly observed some object," his "over-active imagination" appeared to have influenced his report. The investigator concluded the sighting was "probable a/c sighting," meaning it likely involved conventional aircraft. The USAF evaluation on the case record card lists the conclusion as "unknown."

The circumstances of the sighting are ambiguous. The location placed the observation directly in the path of heavy commercial air traffic heading toward Chicago. Yet the boy's shifting descriptions of what he saw, combined with the duration of the observation and the detailed but potentially embellished account he provided, left investigators uncertain whether he had witnessed aircraft, a weather phenomenon, or something else entirely.

This case file, comprising 13 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below in full.