Greenfield, CaliforniaDecember 1962

In the early morning hours of December 14, 1962, law enforcement officers across central California reported seeing a brilliant glowing object in the sky. A Greenfield police patrolman first spotted it around 4:30 a.m., at an estimated 10,000 feet altitude to the southeast of the city. He initially thought it might be an aircraft on fire, but closer observation revealed it as a round, glowing white or silver light that remained fixed in position.

The sighting was confirmed by officers in nearby King City, Soledad, and Gonzales, as well as military personnel at Fort Ord. The object appeared to drift slowly southward while climbing vertically. The Greenfield officer observed it through 7X50 binoculars between 5:45 and 6:00 a.m. with two other witnesses. They watched it climb an estimated 20,000 feet during that fifteen minute window. The object remained visible to various observers for more than six hours, from around 4:30 a.m. until roughly 10:30 a.m., though no single observer watched it continuously. Some witnesses described the light disappearing and then reappearing, similar to turning off a television set. No radar stations detected the object, and no sound was reported.

The U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations examined the case in late December 1962. They interviewed eight observers rated from fairly reliable to very reliable. The FAA weather station at Salinas reported clear skies and good visibility during the sighting, though a pilot reported seeing meteor activity to the south and east of the area around the same time. Investigators concluded the object's behavior was consistent with that of a balloon. They noted that weather balloons released from the Coast Guard station at Morro Bay or the San Luis Obispo weather station could have drifted into the area, or a private citizen might have launched a balloon equipped with lights. Evidence of handmade plastic balloons filled with natural gas had been found in Monterey County by the California State Division of Forestry. The source of the object could not be positively identified, but the Air Force concluded it was most likely a balloon.

The full case file, comprising 15 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.