La Madera, New MexicoDecember 1957

Unidentified

Summary

On December 6, 1957, near La Madera, New Mexico, a civilian observer reported seeing one round object the size of a basketball with a white light. The object moved side to side about 5 feet in either direction. The witness used binoculars to observe it. The sighting lasted until the time of the report. The son of the observer called attention to the object while he was playing outside. The object was still in sight at the time the report was made. Due to lack of information, evaluation was difficult. However, information was provided showing the object's position at 45 degrees elevation in the south. The Air Force concluded the sighting was probably a balloon.

Reported location

La Madera, New Mexico

Date of incident

December 1957

State / country

NM / US

Page count

3 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 31

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 3

View transcribed text

PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD

1. DATE
6 December 1957

3. DATE-TIME GROUP
Local ___
GMT 07/0011Z

5. PHOTOS
□ Yes

7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION
still in sight

10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING
One object round, size of basketball, color white light. Object moved side to side 5 feet in either direction. Binoculars used.

2. LOCATION
La Madera, New Mexico

4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION
[X] Ground-Visual   □ Ground-Radar
□ Air-Visual       □ Air-Intercept Radar

6. SOURCE
Civilian

8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS
one

9. COURSE
side to side

11. COMMENTS
Due to lack of information difficult to evaluate. Probably astronomical; however, information was of position at 45 dgr elevation in South.

12. CONCLUSIONS
□ Was Balloon
□ Probably Balloon
□ Possibly Balloon
□ Was Aircraft
□ Probably Aircraft
□ Possibly Aircraft
□ Was Astronomical
□ Probably Astronomical
□ Possibly Astronomical
□ Other
[X] Insufficient Data for Evaluation
□ Unknown

/ 3

Use ← → keys to navigate · scans hosted by the U.S. National Archives

Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28975856