Great Falls, MontanaFebruary 1953

On the night of February 25, 1953, three U.S. Air Force personnel driving near Great Falls, Montana spotted an unusual object in the sky. Lieutenant Peter Marquez, Sergeant Roney Mayer, and Airman Ramsey were returning to their base from an investigation nearby when they noticed a very bright, flickering, whitish light roughly 10 miles away to the southwest, at an altitude they estimated between 1,000 and 4,500 feet. The light resembled burning magnesium. The object descended rapidly toward the ground. When it had fallen about one-third of the distance to the earth, the light suddenly flashed and became roughly ten times brighter, looking like a parachute flare. The object then slowed its descent, continued falling, and disappeared completely about halfway down from its original height. No sound was heard.

The same observer, identified in the file as Mr. Donald H. Lee, reported similar sightings on two additional occasions, on March 5 and March 6, 1953. All three reports came from the 1701st Air Transport Wing at Great Falls Air Force Base. In each case, the object appeared in roughly the same location in the sky. The repeated sightings alarmed local residents and prompted the Air Force to investigate.

Air Force investigators instructed the base to check local radar facilities for any unusual readings during the sighting times, and suggested that the bright light might have been the planet Venus, which is sometimes visible during daylight hours and has caused confusion before. They also recommended consulting a local astronomer. The investigators asked the witness to provide precise directions (azimuth and elevation readings) to determine whether the object occupied the same position each time and to clarify whether there were other witnesses to corroborate the sightings.

The Air Force's official evaluation, completed in March 1953, noted that very little solid information had been gathered about the object's actual appearance or the observer's background and experience. The file states that the report had to be carried as "insufficient data for evaluation" until a complete Air Force Form 112 was received. Project Blue Book ultimately classified the case as unidentified. The full case file of 15 pages is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.