Kadena, Okinawa, September 1959September 1959

On the night of September 14, 1959, radar operators and visual observers at several U.S. Air Force bases in Okinawa reported seeing unidentified objects moving across the sky during severe weather. The sightings occurred as Typhoon Sarah was approaching the island from the southeast, with rain squalls and poor visibility in the area.

The visual sighting happened around 4:30 p.m. at Kadena Air Base. Three Air Force personnel on typhoon duty watched an object that looked like an elongated strip of material or a piece of window foil. When held at arm's length, the object appeared about half the length of an index finger. It was silver in color and remained visible only when illuminated by the rotating beacon light from the Kadena tower. The object appeared to be tilted downward as it moved slowly away from the observers in a direction that matched the prevailing surface winds. The visual sighting lasted about 4 to 5 minutes before the object gradually disappeared from view.

Radar operators detected many more contacts on their scopes during the same period, between 4:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. on September 14. These radar blips appeared as green returns similar in size to liaison aircraft. They came from the east, moving toward Kadena Air Base at speeds ranging from 50 to 100 knots. One radar contact appeared to match the object seen visually. Most radar targets vanished suddenly from the scope, though one observer suggested they may have passed below the radar beam.

The investigating officer, Captain Chester A. Barchiesi, found that a temperature inversion (a layer of warm air trapped above cooler air) existed between 4,200 and 5,300 feet during the observation period. Combined with the severe weather from the typhoon, these conditions could have caused unusual radar returns. Barchiesi concluded that weather phenomena caused by Typhoon Sarah probably explained the radar contacts. However, he noted that no clear explanation could be offered for the single visual sighting. A separate report from personnel at Naha Air Base and Yoza Dake, who also observed objects on radar and visually that evening, reached a similar conclusion: the objects were likely the result of electrical disturbances and weather phenomena caused by the typhoon.

The complete case file, consisting of 9 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.