Kadoka, South DakotaNovember 1956

Insufficient Data

Summary

On the evening of November 27, 1956, several residents of Kadoka, South Dakota, reported seeing unusual objects in the night sky. The witnesses included a housewife, a bank clerk, and other local residents. Using binoculars, they observed the objects for extended periods as the evening progressed.

The first object was round, about the size of a baseball held at arm's length. It displayed red, blue, green, and white colors and appeared very bright and blinking. The witnesses first spotted it at 35 degrees elevation and watched it rise and move away across the sky until it faded from sight after one and a half hours of observation. The binoculars made the object appear brighter than it looked to the naked eye.

A second object was also reported. This one was egg-shaped, roughly the size of a grapefruit at arm's length, and colored red to green. It changed direction quickly with no consistent pattern, and the witnesses observed it until it moved out of sight.

The Air Force's investigation noted that weather conditions that night were clear with unlimited visibility. While the official evaluation form lists the conclusion as "unknown," the file contains a note suggesting that one of the objects might have been the planet Mars, which was setting at that time in the direction and at the elevation angles some of the witnesses described. The full case file, comprising 8 pages, is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.

Reported location

Kadoka, South Dakota

Date of incident

November 1956

State / country

SD / US

Page count

8 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 26

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 8

View transcribed text

Beem TO BE OES ATRIOS rt ms ass J RETRNY Pe GT BRET EIR rR NET Tyng REY ORY ADR—. —e
- \ |
Sah PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD fiiecity
1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
Kadoka, South Dakota O Wes Bolloon |
26 & 27 November 1956 Clear Lake, South Dakota |O Probably Balleon
3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4 TYPE OF OBSERVATION ns As
Local 27705122 XXGround- Visual O Ground-Radar 5 Scheity Maver oft
GMT 0 Air Visual O Air-Intercept Radar 0 Possibly Aircraft PR
5. PHOTOS . Was A ol
0 Yer Won Asroemed AHS
No D Possibly Astronemicol |
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION | 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE I  N————
O Insufficient Dote for Evaluation
: ; (u] Unknown
10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING i 1. COMMENTS :
1. One round object, red, blue, green,| Mars at 265 dgr azimuth about
and white in color and the size of a 20-30 dgr elevation setting at
baseball at arm's length, Object was 08302. -
first seen at 35 dgr elevation and
disappeared at 60 dgr elevation after
~ |rising in elevation and moving away
from 100 dgr azimuth, Object faded fro
sight after having been observed visu- i
for’ 11 dn Rh ise (8x40 power) |
or ours,/2, One red to green egg-
shape oby size of grapefruit at +g"
length, Obj 1st seen at 300 elev,270° | |
azi, Changed directions fas no Se 3 rn Visua RK ' hino nr
ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)
. /
: L]

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28968462