Helena, MontanaAugust 1957

Insufficient Data

Summary

On August 20, 1957, at approximately 4:20 a.m., a woman in Helena, Montana saw four bright, disc-shaped objects in the pre-dawn sky. She was in her backyard hanging clothes when she noticed the first two objects appear suddenly. They were round and bright, and faded quickly. Two more objects then appeared in the same location and vanished abruptly. The witness estimated the objects were about the size of a dinner plate held at arm's length and described them as very bright, like the headlights of a car. The entire sequence lasted only a few seconds.

The witness reported seeing similar objects years earlier near Spokane, Washington, but provided no other details about those sightings. When asked what she thought the objects might be, the witness did not offer an opinion in the portions of the file preserved here. The Air Force also did not record her estimate of the objects' speed or distance in the available sections of the questionnaire.

The Air Force's official evaluation of this case, listed on the cover sheet, was "unknown." The file notes mention that the description might indicate aircraft traffic from Great Falls, but the rapid appearance and disappearance of the objects, along with their brief visibility, left the sighting unresolved. The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, comprising 10 pages.

Reported location

Helena, Montana

Date of incident

August 1957

State / country

MT / US

Page count

10 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 28

: ALLER #3 : PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD : 3 1. DATE : 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS 4 [J Was Balloon 20 August 1957 Helena, Montana 0 ick Lo ] 3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION DO Possibly Bolloon | t 0 Was Aircraft | LP A © EES aL RES E2Ground- Visual DO Ground-Rador BX Probably Aircraft GM 21/0420Z 0 Air Visual 0 Air-Intercept Radar O Possibly Aircraft : ‘1's. PHOTOS : . SOURCE O Wos Astronomical O Yes u] Probably Astronomical BNo Civilian DO Possibly Astronomical "| 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE 0 Jo [ER ATTRIT S 0 Insufficient Dota for Evaluation 3 0 Unknown few seconds four (4) South ~ |10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS Two bricht objects, round and shaped The description indicates air- : like a disc, appeared for a short craft traffic from Great Falls. i period and then faded, Two more appeardd immediately in the same place and abrup- tly disappeared, ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52) / : .