Gander AFB, Newfoundland, February 1958February 1958

On February 25, 1958, radar operators at Gander Air Force Base in Newfoundland detected an object moving erratically from the southeast to the northwest. The object appeared on radar screens and seemed to circle the area. At nearly the same time, a witness on the ground saw something at 45 degrees above the horizon, roughly 150 degrees azimuth (looking south-southeast). However, the visual sighting and the radar track did not match up in position, which raised questions about whether they were tracking the same object.

The radar target moved unpredictably and then disappeared to the west. The visual object, by contrast, remained stationary. Because the positions did not align, the two sightings may have been of different things. The investigators noted that weather information and wind direction were supposed to be included in the analysis to help rule out a balloon, but those details were not provided in the case file. Additionally, no radar film was taken to document the track.

A follow-up investigation turned up several complications. A ground search team found a clearing in the forest with fresh tree stumps and uprooted trees, which they thought might be connected to the sighting. However, the investigators later concluded the clearing was probably made by a bulldozer operated by a local lumber company before the snowfall. The team also learned that a small airplane and four unidentified aircraft had been flying at 2,000 feet in the same area around the time of the sighting, though it was unclear whether they had anything to do with the radar and visual reports. The Air Force concluded it did not have enough information to evaluate the radar portion of the sighting, though they did not rule out the possibility of an unidentified flying object. The full case file, seven pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.