Imperial, IllinoisOctober 1954

On the night of October 8, 1954, a civilian in Imperial, Illinois saw a bright object streak across the sky. The witness described it as round, about the size of a fifty-cent piece, with a flame color and a bulge on one side. A tail trailed behind it, roughly the same size as the object itself. The tail seemed to move side to side, as if being whipped by wind.

The sighting lasted only three seconds. The object appeared at a 45-degree angle above the horizon, toward the east, and traveled in an arc before disappearing behind trees. The brightness of the object caught the observer's eye. The night was clear, with south-southeast surface winds. The witness was a 28-year-old civil engineer.

The Air Force's Wing Intelligence Officer noted that the possible cause of the sighting was unknown at the time of the initial report. However, the case summary concluded that the object's description and behavior matched that of a meteor, and the sighting was officially classified as "Astronomical: Meteor."

The case file also contains a second sighting from October 10, 1954, in Houston, Texas, which the Air Force evaluated as "Possibly Astronomical: Star." That witness reported a round, pulsating object that cycled from bright blue to red, hovering in the sky for several minutes. The Air Force noted no major astronomical body was in the reported position, but suggested a possible error in the witness's compass bearing.

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