Gulfport, MississippiSeptember 1955

Insufficient Data

Summary

On September 25, 1955, a civilian in a boat saw a bright light on the horizon near Gulfport, Mississippi, about three miles west of Keesler Air Force Base. The witness was a radio and television technician. The sighting lasted about one minute.

He described a brilliant light shaped like a half circle resting on the horizon. It appeared to cover many miles. The center was red or yellow, and the outer part ranged from pale blue to red, with a sharp line between the colors. After about a minute, a bright blue shaft of light radiated from the half circle, then stopped abruptly in the sky. The blue light flickered three times. The witness said the flash briefly blinded him. The shaft then vanished, and the half circle faded to dark red and disappeared.

The Air Force suggested the sighting was a pyrotechnic device of some type. Because the area had recently been used as a photoflash bomb drop area and the light flickered three times, officers thought it may have been a high-candlepower parachute flare. The card lists the conclusion as other: pyrotechnic. Officers noted the area was used by an Air National Guard unit, though that unit said no drops had been made since September 19.

Reported location

Gulfport, Mississippi

Date of incident

September 1955

State / country

MS / US

Page count

5 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 24

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 5

View transcribed text

Ra PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD |
"|i. DATE 12. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS

of | fulfport, Mississippi 6. Un Bats

| 25 Sep 55 | 3W of Xeesler AFB, Miss 0 Probably Balloon

4 3. DATE-TINE GROUP | 4 TYPE OF OBSERVATION | Possibly Bolloon

| | tLocolExact time unk X Grown d- Vi sual O Ground-Radar 2 a

E GMT 25/0900% Q AirVisval 0 Air-Intercept Radar D Possibly Aircraft

a 5. PHOTOS 8. SOURCE 0 Was Astronomical
El O Yes 0 Probably Astronomical {
E X® No | civilian (mult) 0 Possibly Astronomical
"| 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 18. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE Other. Pyrotechnic

E DO Insufficient Doto for Evaluation
* |1 min 0 1 | See case Hn

~ 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS :

"| Brilliant light shape of half circle on hori- |Due to fact that recently area of sight
' | zon. Appeared to cover many miles, center of (was used as a photoflash bomb drop area,

* | circle was red, outer part ranged pale blue to [and that light "flickered" three times, a

. |red. Sharp line of distinction between yellow [pyrotechnic of some type 1s suggested.

* | portion and blue-to-red portion, brilliant blugPossibly a parachute dropped, high candle

"| shaft of light radiated from semi-circle but [power flare. Parachute would account ofr |
"| stopped abruptly in sky. Blus light flickered |shaft of light ending abruptly.

© | 3 times. Observer was purportedly blinded by

"| flash of light. Semi-circle faded to a dark

© |red and disappeared.

| ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)

4 /

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28963756