in a boat on lake Winnebago, Wis., August 1959August 1959

On the evening of August 26, 1959, people in a boat on Lake Winnebago in Wisconsin watched nine glowing objects move across the sky in two separate groups. The first group of six lights appeared in the southwestern sky around 8:45 p.m., followed by three more objects near the Big Dipper constellation. A final pair of lights was spotted later, around 9:10 p.m. According to the witness account, the lights were yellowish white and as bright as first-magnitude stars (among the brightest visible stars in the night sky).

The objects traveled horizontally across the sky, moving faster than any jet. One particularly striking observation noted that a single object traveled from one end of the Big Dipper's handle to the opposite end of the cup in about three seconds. After moving for roughly five minutes, the lights gradually faded away until they disappeared.

The Air Force received the initial report by letter on September 6, 1959, but the information provided was too limited for investigators to reach a firm conclusion. They sent a follow-up questionnaire to gather more details, but the witness did not return additional information. The file indicates that nine people witnessed the event. The Air Force ultimately marked the case as "unknown," meaning they could not determine what the witnesses saw. The full case file, as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below across 15 pages.