Grand Rapids, MichiganJuly 1958

# Grand Rapids UFO Sightings, July 1958

Between July 11 and 14, 1958, multiple witnesses across Michigan, Ohio, Texas, and France reported seeing unusual lights in the night sky. The most detailed accounts came from the Grand Rapids area on July 12 and 13.

In the first Grand Rapids sighting, a civilian observer sitting in their backyard on the night of July 12 at approximately 2120 to 2140 hours (9:20 to 9:40 p.m.) saw a white light blinking on and off as it traveled in a straight line across the sky. The object appeared to be about the size of a pinhead and disappeared instantly. A second observer on the same night reported seeing a round white object the size of a pinhead with a blinking light, which also vanished instantly. A third witness described a ball-shaped object with a red glow that flashed or pulsated, disappearing to the northeast. A fourth sighting from the area near the Michigan-Ohio border involved a round white object roughly the size of a basketball that suddenly appeared as a bright light, then moved in a circular motion before fading over the horizon.

During the same period, a civilian airline pilot near Wellington, Texas observed an object with a brightness that varied from roughly that of a third-magnitude star to a first-magnitude star, traveling at a speed just less than hurricane force. Another observer near Warren, Ohio saw a ball-shaped object with a red glow.

The Air Force's Astronautics Branch compared the observation times and locations to the orbital paths of Sputnik III and related rocket debris. Technical analysis suggested the sightings were consistent with satellite observations, and the case file indicates the primary sighting was confirmed as Sputnik.

This case file consists of 20 pages of declassified records held by the National Archives.