Lincoln AFB, NebraskaFebruary 1957

On the night of February 13, 1957, control tower personnel at Lincoln Air Force Base in Nebraska watched multiple red flashing lights moving over the area north and northeast of the base. Five tower operators and supervisors observed the objects with the naked eye and through binoculars. The objects also appeared on radar screens operated by Lincoln Ground Control Approach (GCA). The lights were estimated to be below 6,000 feet in altitude and moved at speeds ranging from stationary to extremely fast.

The sighting actually consisted of two separate events occurring around the same time. In the first event, lasting three to twelve minutes, objects moved generally from north to west. Colonel Robert B. Nowell, the Director of Operations of the 98th Bomb Wing who was in the tower, observed three objects the size of a basketball held at arm's length. They were red in color with steady brightness. Master Sergeant George W. Le Roy Jr., a radar operator, tracked four radar targets moving at roughly twice the speed of a known commercial airliner in the area.

In the second event, lasting twenty-five to thirty minutes, airmen in the control tower saw four to six objects moving generally from north to east in an erratic flight path. The objects appeared as red flashing or rotating lights with the brightness of an automobile headlight from a mile away. One object separated from the others and moved in the opposite direction. These witnesses estimated the objects were between 5 and 16 miles away.

The Air Force investigated by checking with weather stations, nearby airports, and commercial airlines. The weather was clear with no balloons released from Lincoln AFB that day. However, Omaha and North Platte, Nebraska both released weather balloons on their normal schedule around the time of the sighting. United Air Lines confirmed that three of their flights could have been in the area under the visual flight rules conditions that existed that night.

The investigating officer concluded that the first sighting was probably caused by civilian aircraft, since the objects resembled aircraft beacon lights and radar operators detected them. The second sighting was possibly caused by weather balloons released from Omaha and North Platte, since the longer observation time and erratic movements ruled out conventional aircraft. The final evaluation was "Probably Aircraft" and "Possibly Balloon."

The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, comprising 13 pages.