Project Blue Book Case File
Lewisburg, West VirginiaAugust 1960
Summary
On the evening of August 5, 1960, a couple living about one and a half miles northwest of Lewisburg, West Virginia, spotted something unusual in the night sky. They saw a round object with a small tail, shaped like a teardrop. The object was bright, with a white heat-like glow. It moved low over the trees in a straight line, then turned sharply, like a beam of light swinging. The sighting lasted 15 seconds.
The couple watched from the ground without binoculars or other optical aids. They were the only witnesses mentioned in the Air Force report. The night was clear, with visibility of 10 miles or more and scattered clouds overhead.
The Air Force investigated the sighting through its Air Technical Intelligence Center. In a follow-up report dated September 9, 1960, the director of the Air Force unit at Guthrie Air Force Station near Charleston concluded that what the couple saw was likely reflected light from car headlights bouncing off the base of a scattered cloud. This explanation would account for the object's teardrop shape, its brightness, and its sudden movements across the sky.
The full case file, comprising 7 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.
Reported location
Lewisburg, West Virginia
Date of incident
August 1960
State / country
WV / US
Page count
7 scanned pages
USAF evaluation
unknown
Microfilm
T1206, Roll 39