Ft Pierce, Florida Lutz, FloridaFebruary 1956

Insufficient Data

Summary

On February 8, 1956, a Ground Observer Corps spotter on duty in the Ft. Pierce and Lutz, Florida area watched an unidentified object for about 15 minutes. The object appeared as a round shape colored yellow with a reddish tinge. It hovered below the horizon, then moved north and south in a gliding motion. The spotter also reported seeing six smaller objects that looked like radar flares, each about the size of a dime held at arm's length, colored red and fading as they moved.

The Air Force operations officer investigating the sighting could not explain the 15-minute observation. However, he noted that the Avon Park area was conducting photoflash operations, with flares being dropped as low as 1,000 feet. The officer concluded that the sighting was most likely generated by photoflash flares, and that the observer may have seen more than one object during the event. No radar contact was made during the observation. The case file notes that photo flashes in the area support this explanation.

The file also contains a separate sighting from February 9, 1956, at Camp Irwin, California. In this incident, military personnel observed an oval object with brilliant luminosity moving at tremendous speed between two grid positions, remaining stationary for brief periods. The report was marked as having insufficient data for proper evaluation due to a delay in receiving the initial report. No investigation was conducted to determine the source of that object.

The full case file, consisting of 7 pages, is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.

Reported location

Ft Pierce, Florida Lutz, Florida

Date of incident

February 1956

State / country

FL / US

Page count

7 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 24

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 7

View transcribed text

- . PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD ..
ois 1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
L fanaa te he | Ft Pierce, Florida : O-- Was Balsa
8 February 1956 Lutz, Florida Bs RiSbotly alisen
3 3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION Alb Ell
: Local : MX Ground- Visual O Ground-Radar eo a ioe Gi Aer
GMT 3: 88; 8298 7 ; 0 Air Visual 0 Air-Intercept Radar O Possibly Aircraft
; C8 PHOTOS Et em i Tet sr Be OH RIC Bea as emia lim ne Lo O Was Astronomical
; DO Yes O Probably Astronomical :
: SNe | Civili ; O Possibly Astronomical
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE xx, Otherphoto flashes.
15 min one | N to 8 ge fsotitelent Data for Evaluation
each obj portion of . six | _stationary : “3
10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS
Er 1) Round object color yellow with a Concur with the opinion of
reddish tinge, Was seen below horizon the reporting officer that this :
| Ops officer reports photo flashes are |): sighting was generated by i
~~. | being used in Avon park area, “ome as photoflash flares, In all prob- |
low as 1000 ft. ~~ ~~~ ~~ ———= | ability; the observer. saw .more| . |
t 2) Six objects having the appearance than one object. See AISS-UFOB ;
=====teof-rad-flares, Oval, the size of a half 32-56, :
dollar held at arms length, and red, =| = ~Tiamm—— oe rm |
The objects appeared to fade.
ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)
13

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28964824