Lake City, Tenn, November 1955November 1955

On the evening of November 20, 1955, seven witnesses in Tennessee reported seeing two bright, metallic objects flying in formation across the twilight sky. Six of the observers were military personnel stationed at Lake City Air Force Station, part of the Air Control and Warning Squadron. The seventh was a civilian telephone company manager near Alexandria, about 130 miles west of the main sighting area. All described the objects as elliptical or cigar-shaped, orange or silver-yellow in color, and roughly the size of a football or grapefruit held at arm's length.

The witnesses reported watching the objects for periods ranging from 30 seconds to 20 minutes. The objects appeared to be made of metal and were separated by about five miles horizontally, with a 2,000-foot difference in altitude. Several observers noted the objects seemed to move together, then apart, traveling generally from southwest to west. The military personnel watched from hilltops around the base, while one sergeant observed them from a moving car on a nearby highway. Most described the brightness as comparable to an automobile headlight viewed from several blocks away. No sound was heard, and the objects showed no smoke, flickering, or pulsation.

The Air Force response was immediate. The 663rd Air Control and Warning Squadron scrambled two F-86D fighter jets to pursue the objects, but the pilots found nothing and made no identification. Radar stations did not detect any targets. Weather checks with McGhee-Tyson Weather Station confirmed clear skies and strong upper-level winds. The astronomer at the University of Tennessee had no information to offer, and commercial airlines reported no unusual observations.

The investigators who prepared the formal report noted that the sighting's duration and characteristics appeared to rule out meteors and aircraft. They considered whether the objects might be balloons caught in a jet stream, but noted this would not explain why the objects sometimes appeared motionless. The preparing officer leaned toward an optical or weather phenomenon, citing the twilight conditions and the sun's low angle on the horizon.

However, the approving officer at headquarters concluded differently. Weather data had revealed two temperature inversions in the area at the time of the sighting, a surface inversion extending to 2,000 feet and another from 11,000 to 13,000 feet. The officer's final assessment was that the sighting was probably caused by viewing the planet Venus through these atmospheric layers. The full case file, comprising 17 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.