KILLEEN, TEXASOctober 1954

Unidentified

Summary

Between October 1 and November 20, 1954, military personnel stationed at Gray Air Force Base near Killeen, Texas reported seeing an unidentified flying object on multiple occasions. The witnesses described it as an oval-shaped object with a silver glow. It had no distinctive features, made no sound, and left no trail or exhaust. Each sighting lasted about fifteen seconds. The object always appeared in the same direction, low on the southwestern horizon, and moved vertically before disappearing.

Because of their military position, the Air Force considered the observers to be reliable witnesses. The repeated sightings over the course of three weeks, combined with the consistent description and direction of the object, suggested to investigators that something unusual was genuinely being observed.

The Air Force's investigation concluded that the sightings were most likely the result of atmospheric refraction, which is the bending of light as it passes through layers of air at different temperatures. When a star or planet sets on the horizon, refraction can distort its appearance and make it seem to move in ways that might puzzle observers. The fact that all sightings occurred in the same direction, which aligned with the ecliptic (the apparent path of the sun and planets across the sky), supported this explanation. The Air Force evaluated the case as unidentified but believed the object was a star or planet being viewed under unusual atmospheric conditions.

The complete case file, consisting of 7 pages as held by the National Archives on microfilm T1206, Roll 21, is reproduced below.

Reported location

KILLEEN, TEXAS

Date of incident

October 1954

State / country

TX / US

Page count

7 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 21

i 1 : PROJECT 10073 RECORD | 4 1. DATE - TIME GROUP 2. LOCATION 3 Oct - 20 Nov 54 | 4 TIGHT KILLEEN, TEYAS | 3 3. SOURCE 10. CONCLUSION t MirtaHM 4 IILITARY WAS ASTRONOMICAL: STAR/PLANET | : 4. NUMBER OF OBJECTS 3 3 ONE : 4 5. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION [11. BRIEF SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS 4 5 Oval shaped obj, silver glow without distinctive features, 4d PTD nl ‘al 3 Qing 4 FIFTEEN SECONDS no sound, trail, or exhaust. Flight vertical disappearing : 2 6. TYPE OF OBSERVATION low on horizon in Southwest. Sighted innumerable times 3 from 1 Oct - 20 Nov, when this report was made. Multiple 3 rr military observers. E 7. COURSE § { COMME NTS: 4 SETTING ON HORIZON Sighting is descriptive of the refraction of a star or i 3. PHOTOS planet as it sets. Repeated observations and the same 4 lirection (coincident with the eccliptic) further sub- i 0 Yes stantiate this conclusion. Case evaluated as the re- : B No fraction of a star/planet as it sets. b: 9. PHYSICAL EVIDENCE ] 0 Yes ; 0 No FORM | FTD sep 63 0-329 (TDE) Previous editions of this form may be used. = } 4