Graham, North CarolinaMarch 1956

On the night of March 4, 1956, six observers in and around Graham, North Carolina, watched a bright object move slowly across the southern sky for ten to forty minutes. What they saw sparked one of the Air Force's most documented UFO investigations.

The first observers were two experienced ground spotters for the Ground Observer Corps, a civilian network that watched for aircraft. Working at the Fairchild Field post near Graham, they watched the object change from red to green to amber and back again at regular intervals. Through binoculars, it appeared roughly the size of a quarter held at arm's length. One observer estimated it was two hundred miles away and very high up. A second sighting of the same object occurred the following night, March 5, at roughly the same time and location. This time it remained visible for thirty minutes, appearing mostly yellow with red flashes.

When word spread, other witnesses joined the watch. A North Carolina Highway Patrol sergeant and two Burlington police officers also observed the object through binoculars. All six witnesses agreed the object moved slowly in a south to south-southeast direction and changed colors repeatedly. Several said it seemed to throb and flicker. None reported hearing any sound. The object ultimately sank below the horizon each time.

The Air Force investigation was thorough. Officers contacted weather stations, aircraft bases, military installations, and observatories across the Southeast. They confirmed that no aircraft were in the vicinity, no balloons had been launched at the right time and altitude to match the observations, and no missiles had been fired. Weather at the time was clear and dry with good visibility. An astronomer at the University of Tennessee noted that Venus was bright in the southwest and Jupiter was bright in the east, but he knew of no astronomical phenomenon that would explain the sightings.

The Air Force concluded the sightings were most likely the bright star Sirius. The star's position matched where witnesses said they saw the object, and Sirius is known to radiate brilliant colors including red, green, and blue. The object's appearance on multiple nights in the same location at the same time of night fit the pattern of observing the same star. However, the preparing officer noted that four of the six witnesses, including the two missile engineers, remained unconvinced, believing they had seen something artificial or man made, not a natural astronomical object. The case file reproduction contains all 20 pages as held by the National Archives.