Goodland, Kansas Stead AFB, NevadaMay 1957

Insufficient Data

Summary

On the night of May 1, 1957, two U.S. Air Force pilots flying separate aircraft over Kansas and Nevada spotted what they described as a brilliant object streaking across the sky. An instructor pilot near Goodland, Kansas saw a perfectly round object about the size of a jet aircraft. It was moving in a straight line and left behind a white trail approximately five miles long. The sighting lasted about fifteen seconds. A second pilot flying a transport plane near Stead Air Force Base in Nevada also reported seeing a trail of fire about two miles long, moving at extremely high speed, and appearing to descend.

The Air Force investigated both reports and reviewed the weather conditions at the time of each sighting. The file notes that one of the pilots estimated the object was traveling at 350 miles per hour. No unusual aircraft traffic was reported in either area on that date. The investigation included interviews with both pilots and collection of weather and wind data from the time of the sighting.

In its conclusion, the Air Force determined that the sightings were probably caused by a meteor. The descriptions in the file, particularly the brilliant trails, the high speeds, and the duration of the observations, were consistent with a meteorite entering Earth's atmosphere, the investigators concluded.

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

Reported location

Goodland, Kansas Stead AFB, Nevada

Date of incident

May 1957

State / country

NV / US

Page count

7 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 27

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 7

View transcribed text

| diein
E et : PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD |
: 1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
Goodland, Kangas Gs Ballas
RB aMav 1987 Stead AVR, Nevada 0 Probably Balloon
A PO Ti a Pe pe pir ot pe 0 Possi bl Y Bal |aon
3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION i 5
4 i i 0 Was Aircraft
(br. pe RE ei 0*Ground- Visual 0 Ground-Rador 0 Probably Aircraft
» GMT 03708037 BAir- Visual 0 Air-Intarcept Radar 0 Possibly Aircraft |
5. PHOTOS §. SOURCE O Was Astronomical ) ;
0 Yas ‘0: Probably Astronomical Ar 7%. )
: £3:No Civilian 0 Possibly Astronomical -
E 7. LENCTH OF OBSERVATION 8, MUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE DEIOthe ysis ie ilowit heft
0 Insufficient Data for Evaluation
Hath Lon \ 0 Unknown
LS seconds a 0112 straight line
§ 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 1. COMMENTS
One perfectly round object the size of Description, duration, indicate ;
a jet. Object was seen moving in a that this sighting was probably
straight line, Object had a tail five caused by a meteor,
miles long. Object was seen air-
] vasually for fifteen seconds.
One object shape undetermined, size of :
J jet fighter, color unknown-obj had trail
of fire 2 miles-- moving at a great speqd
about 35 MPH. Obj seemed to be descend-
i Inge
]
| BE ei mand
d ATIC FORM 322 (REV 26 SEP 52)
B RRR ARR re i Nish

/ 7

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28969826