LeCompte-Forest Hill, La., January 1958January 1958

On the evening of January 3, 1958, two schoolteachers driving on Louisiana highways near LeCompte and Forest Hill saw an oval-shaped object with four glowing pointed rays extending outward. The women, both described as reputable college graduates, were traveling in a car on Louisiana Highway 112 and Highway 28 between approximately 7:20 p.m. and 7:50 p.m. One observer estimated the object to be about the size of a bale of cotton held at arm's length. The other described it as roughly the size of a basketball at its closest point. Both said it had a golden color when seen from a distance and turned a beautiful white color as it drew nearer.

The object moved smoothly and gracefully with no sudden movements, which the women described as "gliding." It remained mostly on the left side of their car as they drove westward. At one point on Highway 28, the object seemed to stop in front of them, but when they reached the spot where they thought it was, it was no longer there. It then reappeared to the left of the car in its usual location. The sighting lasted approximately thirty minutes and ended about three miles east of Melder, Louisiana.

When the Air Force investigated the incident, an officer retraced the route the women had traveled the same evening. He noted that the planet Venus was visible in the same general area where the object had been observed and disappeared at roughly the same time. Venus was bright and gave off a glow similar to what the witnesses described. The preparing officer concluded that the object was likely Venus and that the movement of the car, combined with the witnesses' imagination, made the planet appear to be moving from side to side. However, the file notes that the shape of the object as described by the witnesses "cannot be explained or accounted for" even if the sighting was of Venus. Local officials in the area had no previous reports of similar sightings and could offer no explanation. The Air Force's formal evaluation on the case card marked it as "unknown." The full case file, comprising twelve pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.