Loa, UtahNovember 1958

Insufficient Data

Summary

On November 15-17, 1958, a resident of Loa, Utah observed a cylindrical object in the southwestern sky during daytime. The object circled overhead for about ten minutes or longer and appeared to have a contrail (a condensation trail, like those left by aircraft) behind it. The witness saw the object at ground level under clear skies and fair weather.

The United States Air Force evaluated the sighting as "unknown," meaning investigators could not determine the object's identity. The file contains the witness's detailed questionnaire responses, internal Air Force memos, and routing slips. One memo from the Air Force Technical Information Center (ATIC) suggests the case did not require further pursuit, noting a similar sighting from April 1953 that was attributed to a fireball (a very bright meteor).

The Air Force remarks on the case record indicate that the description of the object pointed toward an aircraft. General weather conditions at the time included clear skies and calm conditions in the western region of Utah, near the state's national parks and monuments. No additional investigative findings or final conclusions appear in the case file beyond the initial "unknown" rating.

The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives and spans 50 pages of microfilm.

Reported location

Loa, Utah

Date of incident

November 1958

State / country

UT / US

Page count

50 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 34

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 50

View transcribed text

PRE oe a ge cb ar BRIERE su RA A -
) ’
Ve -
vy i PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD
mt m—————n Be S— — ————  —— ihe BS Rn EE oe ie error er ————— a —— re) |
i. DATE 2. LOCATION - 12. CONCLUSION. \
|
: 0 Wos Balloon Ak
15-17 November 1958 Loo fJtah 0 Probably Ball
BE a TT=yon —— eee) Possibly Bolle®"
3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION
ji : i 0 Was Aircraft
Local ER A ER TR B:Ground- Visual © Ground-Radar a; Probably Aircral
oMT.L91l8% i Qa Air Visual 0 Air-Intercept Radar 0 Possibly Airerah
5. PHOTOS 8. SOURCE 0 Was Astronomical |
a Yes 0 Probably Astronom S01 |
~O:No : Civilion ¢ 0 Possibly Astronomi
7. LENGTH OF.OBSERVATION : 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE 0 Othere— oe EalUation
: 0D Insufficient Data for
0 Unknown
oie 10 ninutes ono CARUSO A BL in Tx oT 28 WU 2h —
10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS
Cylindrical y dark celor, circled in Description indicaios a/c.
the SW, observed for 1lU mins or Gentyrail present, Clear west hele
longer, a contrail was observed fax
behind obj.
|
ATIC FORM 329 (REY 26 SEF 52)
|)
~~
60 dl GS 8 NB TR Bb wt Gio ERR

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28981004