FT. Washakie, WyomingFebruary 1961

A Wyoming rancher found a strange metal ornament in his field in February 1961. The object prompted an investigation that would eventually reach the FBI and several U.S. Air Force offices, but the mystery was never fully solved.

The man who owned the land near Fort Washakie reported his discovery in a February 23rd letter addressed to FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. The letter was forwarded to the Ogden Air Materiel Area at Hill Air Force Base in Utah for investigation. On March 29, 1961, Major Hutchison from the 2705th Ammunition Wing examined the object. The investigators determined it contained no explosives and ruled out military munitions. They then returned it to Air Force authorities for further study.

After handling the object and examining it carefully, everyone involved concluded it was probably a decorative ornament from either an automobile or a small aircraft. The investigators thought it may have fallen from a plane during flight and landed in the rancher's field. However, they were never able to identify exactly which vehicle it came from or how it ended up in Wyoming. In a May 11th letter to the rancher, Air Force officials assured him the object posed no threat to national security and thanked him for reporting it. The Air Force continued trying to identify the piece but ultimately did not succeed. The complete case file, held by the National Archives, spans 12 pages.