Herford, Germany, April 1959April 1959

Insufficient Data

Summary

On April 11, 1959, a person in Herford, Germany reported seeing an oval-shaped object that was bright white and had a tail. The object appeared in the southern sky at high altitude for roughly three to four seconds before disappearing from view.

The witness filled out a detailed questionnaire describing the sighting, and other official documents were generated as part of the investigation. The file indicates the witness was a British subject and had recently finished reading a book about flying saucers, which may have influenced how the person interpreted what was seen.

The U.S. Air Force's analysis concluded that the description was characteristic of a meteor. In a memo dated May 12, 1959, the analysis notes that although the source agreed it was a meteor, the person reported it as an unidentified flying object "probably out of curiosity" and because the witness was expecting to see a "saucer" after finishing the book. A follow-up letter from the Air Force to the witness, dated May 20, 1959, acknowledged the sighting and noted that viewing such a meteor was fortunate.

The full case file, comprising 14 pages, is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.

Reported location

Herford, Germany, April 1959

Date of incident

April 1959

State / country

? / XX

Page count

14 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 35

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 14

View transcribed text

FR FR AOI ENTIRE TAT Pe ——— PN I EE EVENS SARS RA ANT Ory RIP fate 10,4. PSEA :
i : PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD -
BT TTT REIT ITINERARIES I=,

1. DATE : 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
0 Was Balloon
11 Spr 82 Horford, Germany O Probably Balloon

3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION # Feswny Puen
i y : ? 0 Was Aircraft
E local GE PR ho 0 :Ground- Visual 0 Ground-Radar Q Probably Aircraft
CIES RL) Ra, 0 Air Visual O Air-Intercept Rador O Possibly Aircraft

5. PHOTOS 6. SOURCE O Was Astronomical =U 00"
O Yes O Probably Astronomical :
O Ne aritish Military 0 Possibly Astronomical

ud peas oh. thd A A
7. LENGTH CF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE CBR REN
P 3 O Insufficient Dota for Evaluation
) a 53 asa 0 Unknown
i 3-4 secs one falling
0. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS Ey
| Oval. shaped, bright white obj, had 2a brighf Description is typical of a meteor
ftail. First & last seen in the South, at high ait.
{
ATIC FORM 329 (REY 26 SEP 52)
4 BS RRA ARR a Gs FERRARA SOMO URE ied d

/ 14

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28983001