La Porte, IndianaMay 1954

Unidentified

Summary

# Summary

On May 23, 1954, a civilian in La Porte, Indiana saw a bright yellow light moving across the sky for about 45 seconds. The object climbed from the northwest toward the north, varying in brightness as it moved. The witness estimated the object's speed at around 600 miles per hour, though some initial calculations suggested it might have been traveling as fast as 2,000 miles per hour. The light made no sound and suddenly went out.

The Air Force investigated the sighting and considered several explanations. The conclusion form noted that the object might have been a jet aircraft with its afterburner on, or an aircraft using its landing light. However, investigators found a problem with both theories: there was no airport north of the witness's location, and the airspace over which the object was seen had low-level flight restrictions. For these reasons, the Air Force could not confirm either possibility and classified the sighting as unidentified.

The complete case file as held by the National Archives is reproduced below, consisting of 14 pages.

Reported location

La Porte, Indiana

Date of incident

May 1954

State / country

IN / US

Page count

14 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 20

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 14

View transcribed text

f SR RSE
PROJECT 10073 RECORD t
I. DATE ru GROUP 2. LOCATION
22 Ma
53/0315 Zz Ia Porte, Indiana J
3. SOURCE 10. CONCLUSION UNIDENTIFIED :
civilian Possible Jet with afterbmrner or a/c with landing light on, |
4. NUMBER OF OBJECTS however, no airport to north of witness location and area over
which sighting took place would have low level flight restric-
tions. UNIDENTIFIED. "
S. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION |11. BRIEF SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS
45 seconds Varied in brightness as from Saturn to Venus. The object grew
larger. Yellow light. No sound. Went out suddenly. Climbing
TYPE OF OBSERVATION
» from NW to N. Speed pretty fast for a/c, estimated at 600 {
‘ground visual mph. Initial letter indicate speed 2,000mph.
7. COURSE ;
NW to N
8. PHOTOS
O Yes
RX No
9. PHYSICAL EVIDENCE
O Yes
O Ne
FORM :
FTD sep 63 0-329 (TDE) Previous editions of this form may be used.
- re. ”
| : ' Ol AR oR BA i ic WT IR ETT
: | t .
Ag J ey
$11)
ay ; :
2/1
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/ 14

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28958266