Fresno, CaliforniaAugust 1956

Unidentified

Summary

In August 1956, a resident of Fresno, California reported seeing an unusual flying object to local authorities. The witness described a gray, saucer-shaped object that moved slowly and gracefully across the sky in very steady flight. The observer noted an odd odor during the sighting.

This report was part of a series of three sightings from the same area submitted to the U.S. Air Force. An official questionnaire was sent to the witness and returned to the Air Force. After reviewing the completed form, Air Force analysts concluded that the witness possessed "an over-active imagination." The file notes that the sighting should be treated with caution and handled without publicity unless strong evidence emerged to support it.

The Air Force's final evaluation marked this case as unidentified, though no detailed investigation findings appear in the file.

The full case file, comprising 43 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.

Reported location

Fresno, California

Date of incident

August 1956

State / country

CA / US

Page count

43 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 26

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 43

View transcribed text

|
a (10 ASELED uros -inpex- "
el UNCLASSIFIE[Juros inoex caro iss tro-398-56 =. -
1. DATE = ; 2 LOC 12. CONCLUSIONS
74-%-43P Aug 56 Fresno, California O Was Balloon
fe 0 Probably Balloon
3. DATE-TIME GROUP Z TYPE OF OBSERVATION 6 Fossvy Seve
20/30/3; Ang 56 & Ground-Visvel 0 Ground-Reder a ig AAA
O AirVisuel O Air-Intercept Radar O Possibly Aireroft
5. PHOTOS 5. SOU O Wes Astronomical
Yes Sketches Civilian O Probably Astronomical
0 Ne O Possibly Astronomical
7. LENGTM OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE 8 Other Over-awtive imag,
Variable : 1 See attache See attache S nnn Data for Evaluation
: ments ments gic
10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS
One gray saucer-shaped object. Object was This sighting, together with two othe
seen in a very steady flight, slowly and grace} were reported by letter from ty
fully. Object was noted in a very graceful Fresno, Calif, ATIC Form 1
flight path, Vary odd odor was noted. was sent to source and returned, Anal
of returned form indicates that Mr,
THIS CARD TOGETHER WITH CORRESPONDENCE IS possesses an over-active imagination.
CLASSIFIED /(/S— / [ronsuAN TO THE tr tr
| AUTHORIZY GIVEN AMR 200-2, par Te AND sighting, including—a copy of -ATIC-FORM-
AMR 205-1, par 30c, i 16l; -are-being-forwarded-for—vour-informae -
5 Tenlas ca tion and necess s£3 or
PO GRAD TY el INTERVALS: :
- w ~ -» “.
PW AL Ee SEARS. 4602D ASS Classified
AISOP Ferm 5 (1S Oct 54) HMC ASSITIED Document Log 7 96 1 HY
| 2 | ) | i

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28967260