Guthrie & 40 Mi E Of Parkersburg, W. Virginia, December 1957December 1957

On December 12, 1957, three F-86L fighter jets from Lockbourne Air Force Base in Ohio were flying northeast near Parkersburg, West Virginia when their pilots spotted something unusual. The lead pilot, the radar operator, and a second pilot all reported seeing red blinking lights in the night sky. A radar blip also appeared on the ground radar at the 783rd Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron in Guthrie, West Virginia.

The object moved fast at first, then slowed down. The radar operator estimated it was traveling at 720 knots at 35,000 feet, with a radar signature similar to a large aircraft. One pilot described an array of red lights, some blinking and some steady. Another said the lights were arranged more vertically than horizontally. The pilots watched for about five minutes, and ground controllers tracked it for about thirty minutes before it moved out of range to the northeast.

The Air Force considered several explanations. Lockbourne Air Force Base operations confirmed that several B-47 bombers (a large military transport aircraft) were inbound to the area around the same time and altitude. One pilot thought he might have seen a B-47 preparing to land. The official evaluation suggested the flashing red lights could have been a B-47, though the file also notes that an atmospheric inversion in the area might have caused unusual radar effects or light distortion from ground sources. The file states that the objects were not definitively identified, and possible causes included aircraft, astronomical bodies, or mirage effects from ground lights.

The complete case file, as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below in 7 pages.