Glenwood, IowaFebruary 1956

Insufficient Data

Summary

On the night of February 12, 1956, a person in Glenwood, Iowa reported seeing unusual objects in the sky. The witness described them as two round, silver balls stacked on top of each other, each about the size of a dime. The objects were visible for about three minutes and moved in a southerly direction.

The Air Force's initial reaction came from a duty controller at a nearby radar facility who believed the objects were simply aircraft in the vicinity. No photographs were taken of the sighting.

A second report came in the same night, filed on February 13. This witness saw a bright white flashing light about the size of a half dollar drifting southward. The witness also reported seeing a fast, flashing reddish-green light. This second observation lasted about five minutes. The witness used binoculars and was described as very reliable and 45 years old.

The duty controller who reviewed this second report believed the object was likely either a weather balloon or a slow-moving aircraft. The file indicates the Air Force concluded the sighting was of insufficient data for evaluation, though the controller leaned toward aircraft or balloon explanations.

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

Reported location

Glenwood, Iowa

Date of incident

February 1956

State / country

IA / US

Page count

7 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 24

FE ERT ah ] PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD : : = 1. DATE : 12. LOCATION “| 12.” CONCLUSIONS - ; 3 0 Was Balloon BE 3 February 1956 Glenwood, Iowa O Probably Balloon FE 3. DATE-TIME GROUP "| 4 TYPE OF OBSERVATION .. : lb AEC a is ce : hi O° Was Aircraft... 1 ; ea ere - X& Ground-Visual 0 Ground-Radar : 0 Probably Aircraft ; : FE Sa GMT 03/ 23072 = 0 Air Visual .0 Air-Intercept Radar Rx Possibly Aircraft og) 4 io "s. PHOTOS : SOURCE : "10. Was Astronomical p - : DO Yes O° Probably ‘Astronomical RE 1XNe Civilian g O Possibly Astronomical ’ | 7. LenoTH OF oBsERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE g, Other Be ; © 10 Insufficient Data for Evaluation E- a Unknown N 3 minutes A two , south : ER 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING ok 11. COMMENTS : EF. Two round balls--size of dime silver | Duty controller believed objects ~~ stacked. A/c im vicinity. : to be a/c. E- E ae 3 : ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52) ; +