Kennesaw, GeorgiaNovember 1957

Unidentified

Summary

On the evening of November 10, 1957, someone in Kennesaw, Georgia saw a bright object fall from the sky. The object was round with a tail and had a green core that gradually turned red around the edges. Its yellow or orange tail was five to six times larger than the object itself. The sighting lasted only two to three seconds, and the object was falling straight downward when the witness last saw it before it disappeared behind trees.

An Air Force investigator examined the sighting and noted several details. The object appeared roughly the size of a baseball. The witness saw it at about a 35-degree angle from their house, falling directly toward the south. No sound was reported. The observer was on the ground looking up at a clear sky during what appears to have been evening hours.

The Air Force's investigation included interviews and a technical questionnaire filled out by the witness. A senior controller at a nearby facility was unable to find anything on radar or through other means that could explain the object. Weather data and other background information were gathered as part of the standard investigation process.

The Air Force concluded that the object was probably a meteor, most likely part of the Leonid meteor shower, which is prominent during this time of year in November. The characteristics observed, the brightness, the color changes, the tail, and the falling motion all matched the pattern of a typical meteor sighting.

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

Reported location

Kennesaw, Georgia

Date of incident

November 1957

State / country

GA / US

Page count

13 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 30

ee PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD | | : I. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS ; | : 0D Wes Balloon 0 November 1957 Kennesaw, Georgin O Probably Balloon {DO Possibly Balloon | 3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION ; pe 0 Wos Aircraft I a El Ground- Visual O Ground-Rador QO Probably Aircraft GMT_10/0508% 0 Air Visual O Air-Intercep? Rodor D Possibly Aircraft 5. PHOTOS 8. SOURCE ‘x Was Astronomical wie teor O Yes ODO Probably Astronomical : X80 No Civilian D Possibly Astronomical 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE Cl SE re | 0 Insufficient Dota for Evaluation & 0 Unknown 2-3 seconds ona straight dowh 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 1). COMMENTS Round object with a tail, size of a A211 the characteristics are those baseball, green core, gradually turn- of a meteor - probably part of the ing red around edges, yellow or orange | Leonid shower, prominent. this time tail, The tail was five to six times of the year. the size of the object, Object was falling straight downward, ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52) i EE