Guam, Marianas 14.27N 124.00E), April 1957April 1957

Insufficient Data

Summary

On April 23, 1957, a military transport plane flying over Guam spotted what its pilot believed might be a searchlight or interceptor flare fired from another aircraft. The sighting lasted about 12 seconds.

The pilot, Lieutenant Commander Roach, was flying a MATS (Military Air Transport Service) cargo plane at 17,000 feet when he suddenly noticed the cockpit becoming very bright. He described the light as comparable to a searchlight, bright enough that he could have read a book by it. Looking out the right window, he saw a bright ball of light about 10 degrees above and behind the right wing, roughly 100 yards away from the aircraft. The object fell below the wing and went dark almost immediately. After the main light vanished, Roach observed what he described as fragments that fell separately, glowing white with a phosphorous appearance for about two seconds.

The event was reported as a CIRVIS report (an intelligence system for reporting unusual aviation incidents). The formal evaluation in the case file classified it as a phosphorous flare fired from the surface and reported by an aircraft, not as a UFO sighting. The incident was forwarded through multiple Air Force intelligence channels from Guam to the Far East Air Forces headquarters and eventually to the Air Technical Intelligence Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.

The complete case file, eight pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.

Reported location

Guam, Marianas 14.27N 124.00E), April 1957

Date of incident

April 1957

State / country

? / XX

Page count

8 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 27

J p ’ | Ne PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD - DE eee a ——————————— a ———— 1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS | : ; 0 Was Balloon 23 Anvil 1957 Guam, Marianas (14,27N 124, 0): )robobly Balloon 3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION ossibly Balloon : DOD Was Aircrah | Local es ee B Ground-Visual 0 Ground-Redar O Probably Aircraft & CMT 28/16557 BM Air- Visual 0 Air-intercept Radar 0 Possibly Aircraft i 5. PHOTOS 6. SOURCE OD Was Astronomical ; 0 Yes 0 Probably Astronomical i © B'Ne Military 0 Possibly Astronomical 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE HE Otheriie fdape ci iin 3 Insufficient Data for Evaluation 0 Unknown 12 seconds one —- & [10. BRIZFE SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS | CIRVIS report of phosphorous flare Not rptd as a UFO. Rptd as a flard. “i fired fm surface. Report fm a/c. pi ATIC FORM 329 (REV 25 SEP 52) ] 4 : 5) ; . 7 . LA RISER DF R$ SET