Lake Andes, South DakotaJanuary 1956

Insufficient Data

Summary

On January 30, 1956, a civilian in Lake Andes, South Dakota reported observing a silver object about the size of a half dollar held at arm's length. The object remained stationary and was visible for more than one hour. The witness stated there were no discernible flight path or maneuvers. The object was still in sight at 9:30 a.m. when the report was submitted. The Air Force senior director concluded from all indications that the sighting was a weather balloon, probably of the radiosonde type.

Reported location

Lake Andes, South Dakota

Date of incident

January 1956

State / country

SD / US

Page count

3 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 24

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 3

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PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD

1. DATE
30 January 1956

3. DATE-TIME GROUP
Local: [illegible]
GMT: 30/2330Z

5. PHOTOS
[X] Yes
[ ] No

7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION
more than one hour

10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING
One bright shaped object, the size of a half dollar held at arms length, silver in color and looked like a weather balloon. There was no discernible flight path or maneuvers.

2. LOCATION
Lake Andes, South Dakota

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

6. SOURCE
Civilian

8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS
one

9. COURSE
stationary

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

11. COMMENT
Concur with the opinion of the reporting officer that this sighting was generated by a weather balloon, probably of the radiosonde type.

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28964692