Kaiserslauten, Germany, August 1954August 1954

Insufficient Data

Summary

On August 7, 1954, a lieutenant stationed at Kaiserslautern, Germany saw an unusual object through a window while looking up at the sky. The object appeared to change shape as he watched it, displaying four different forms: round, oblong, egg-shaped, and half-round. The object also seemed to have red lines running along its north, south, west, and east sides. The lieutenant estimated the object was at an angle of about 63 degrees above the horizon and observed it for approximately four minutes before it moved out of view toward the upper atmosphere.

The object's appearance and behavior prompted an Air Force investigation. Officers collected detailed information about the sighting, including weather conditions at the time. The sky was clear with stars visible, and winds at the surface were blowing from the south-southwest at about 11 knots. Cloud cover was reported at 3,522 feet with broken conditions, and visibility extended nine nautical miles.

After reviewing the evidence, the investigating officer noted that the witness would need to be classified as F-3 (a classification level for observers) before a full analysis could proceed. The Air Force's preliminary assessment, recorded on the case card, suggested the object was probably a balloon, though the file offers limited explanation for this conclusion.

The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives across 12 pages.

Reported location

Kaiserslauten, Germany, August 1954

Date of incident

August 1954

State / country

? / XX

Page count

12 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 21

: : { PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD } 1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS 7 oA i= acy, . O Was Balloon y . { August 195.4 Kaiserslauten, Germany B PrabablyiBallcon | sai Sane eV ie TR Slee os aa en a See nse . 3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION EIS ih all il 8 KB Wos Aiicroft ea XJ Ground- Visual OD Ground-Radar O Probably Aircroft GMT ___ 07/22287 0 AirVisuol 0 Air-Intercept Rador O Possibly Aircraft 5. PHOTOS é. SOURCE 0 Was Astronomical O Yes DO Probably Astronomical No Military O Possibly Astronomical 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE (nfo) ] yy En AiG Se a ER O Insufficient Data for Evaluation es 0 Unknown 4 Minutes 1 5 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS One object with 4 different shapes. Round A/C with lines considered as contrails oblong, egg shaped, half round,red lines N, with sun reflecting from them. SW, and East of object, 60 deg elevation, 120-160 deg az. Observad through window, A 7A K/L) EA ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)