Long Beach, CaliforniaJuly 1954

Unidentified

Summary

On July 3, 1954, in Long Beach, California, a civilian observer reported sighting a round, red object with no trail, apparently revolving in flight. The object passed over the observer and disappeared over the horizon in about 10 seconds. The object made no sound. At the time of sighting, weather was clear with ten-mile visibility. Air Force observers noted high-flying jet aircraft maneuvering in the area. Comments in the investigation indicate the object appeared to be the size of the moon. The Air Force evaluation concluded the sighting was probably a balloon.

Reported location

Long Beach, California

Date of incident

July 1954

State / country

CA / US

Page count

3 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 21

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 3

View transcribed text

PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD

1. DATE | 2. LOCATION | 12. CONCLUSIONS
3 July 1954 | Long Beach, California | [] Was Balloon
 | | [X] Probably Balloon
3. DATE-TIME GROUP | 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION | [] Possibly Balloon
Local__________ | [X] Ground-Visual | [] Was Aircraft
GMT___09/04372 | [] Ground-Radar | [] Probably Aircraft
5. PHOTOS | [] Air-Visual | [] Air-Intercept Radar | [] Possibly Aircraft
[] Yes | 6. SOURCE | [] Was Astronomical METEOR
[] No | Civilian | [] Probably Astronomical
 | | [] Possibly Astronomical
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION | 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE | [] Other
10 seconds | 1 | SW | [] Insufficient Data for Evaluation
 | | | [] Unknown
10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING | 11. COMMENTS
Round size, red-soundless, no trail. Veered | Object size of moon, no sound. Disappear-
in arc. Apparently revolving in arc. | ing over horizon in 10 seconds rules out
Observed at Zenith passing overhead and | a/c. Obvious analysis as meteor arc to
disappearing over horizon. High flying jet | right at disappearance attributed to
reported maneuvering in area. | illusion.

ATIC FORM 329 (REV 28 SEP 53)

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28958936