Keller, WashingtonJuly 1962

A man in Keller, Washington, reported seeing an unusual object cross the night sky on three consecutive nights in July 1962. On Tuesday night around 10:15 p.m., he first spotted what he described as a dark spot with a bright, mercury-white flashing light that blinked on and off about twice a second. The object moved across the sky from southwest to northeast in approximately 20 seconds. He noted that it made no sound and seemed to move at a speed much faster than the jet aircraft he regularly heard passing overhead at 35,000 feet.

The object returned the following two nights. On Wednesday around 10 p.m., it traveled on a roughly west-to-east course. On Thursday at 10:44 p.m., it moved west to east again, appearing about 30 degrees past directly overhead. On this final sighting, the flashing light suddenly stopped. The witness emphasized that the night was extremely clear and the flashing light was brighter than any aircraft beacon he had seen before. He heard no sound from the object on any of the three nights.

The witness wrote directly to General Bernard Schriever at the Air Force, frustrated by lack of response from NASA and local air personnel. He speculated the object might be a U.S. or Russian satellite, or possibly a new type of aircraft.

Air Force investigators responded by asking the witness to complete a detailed technical questionnaire. They sought clarification on how the 25-second duration was measured and whether it was the same for all three sightings. They also asked for the approximate number of times the object flashed. In their analysis, Air Force officials noted that the sightings matched patterns consistent with an aircraft and suggested that the extreme clarity of the night and the bright flashing light created an illusion of extraordinary brightness. The object's heading on the final night (065 degrees, or roughly northeast) fit typical aircraft behavior. The case file indicates the Air Force concluded the sightings were probably caused by a conventional aircraft, though the witness's initial letter remained in the file without a definitive final evaluation attached.

The full case file, consisting of 13 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.