Indian House Lake, Canada, April 1962April 1962

On the night of April 30 and early morning of April 31, 1962, a civilian weather watch officer at the Indian House Lake radio station in Labrador, Canada spotted an unusual object in the sky. The man first saw it around 0040 local time, looking toward the northwest at roughly 300 degrees bearing (west-northwest) at an angle of about 20 degrees above the horizon. He called other staff members to observe it, and they all watched as the object descended slowly for about 20 minutes.

The observers described the object as a burning ball that was red at its base and white on top, roughly two to four times the size of visible stars. They could see it clearly with the naked eye, but they used a theodolite (a surveying telescope) to examine it more closely. As they watched, the object moved downward and to the right, giving off what seemed to be varying lights of great intensity. The sky around the object also appeared to vary in brightness, with pale blue lights that seemed connected to the burning ball. The object continued descending until it disappeared behind a ridge of hills at a bearing of approximately 318 degrees and an elevation of 1 degree.

When the Air Force investigated, they looked at what the witnesses had seen. They considered whether it could have been a burning aircraft, but the slow descent speed made that unlikely. The file notes that the possibility of a meteorological phenomenon was raised. However, the Air Force investigators concluded the sighting was probably the bright red star Betelgeuse, which sets on the horizon around the time the witnesses reported the object disappearing. The file notes that Betelgeuse's setting time coincided with when the object vanished, and suggests the witness may have overestimated the initial elevation angle of the star. The Air Force eventually classified this case as a probable astronomical observation.

The complete case file, consisting of 12 pages, is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.