Hillcrest Heights, MarylandJune 1955

On the evening of June 25, 1955, several witnesses in Hillcrest Heights, Maryland watched an unusual bright object move across the sky. A lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force described it as a yellowish light that stopped, hovered, and then moved rapidly in different directions over roughly ten minutes. A major with excellent reliability also observed the object, describing it as a brilliant yellow-orange light about the size of a grapefruit with a cone-shaped tail, traveling in a zigzag pattern and making no sound. A third observer, an administrative assistant to a congressman, watched what he called a brilliant red ball of light pass overhead from east to west at an estimated altitude of 2,000 to 3,000 feet. The witnesses said the object hovered over Washington National Airport briefly and then shifted course sharply before disappearing into the overcast.

The Air Force investigated by checking with radar installations, airport traffic control, military bases, and local observatories. All reported negative results. However, investigators discovered that the Silver Hill Weather Observatory in Hillcrest Heights had released a weather balloon carrying a bright magnesium light at approximately 10:45 p.m. EDT on the same night, just minutes before the sightings. The winds at various altitudes on that evening could have carried the balloon along the approximate path described by the witnesses. When shown this information, all three observers acknowledged that the object they saw could have been the weather balloon.

The investigating officer concluded that the sighting was almost certainly the Silver Hill weather balloon. The officer noted that the balloon's apparent speed could have been deceptive due to its low initial altitude, and that without sound or clear visual reference points, the observers could easily have misjudged its actual height. The apparent hovering and erratic motion, the officer suggested, likely resulted from shifting wind currents at different altitudes as the balloon climbed. The approving officer concurred with this assessment. The Air Force ultimately classified the case as unidentified, though it expressed strong confidence in the weather balloon explanation. The full case file, comprising 16 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.