Lovinger, MissouriJune 1959

On the evening of June 14, 1959, a resident of Novinger, Missouri, about six miles south and west of Kirksville Air Force Station, observed an unusual object while looking around outside. The observer initially thought he might be seeing the evening star, but quickly realized the object was too late in the evening and too low in the sky to be Venus or any other known star.

The object appeared round and displayed red and green coloring. It moved in a generally westward direction, traveling between 2,000 and 5,000 feet in altitude. The object moved upward and downward during the sighting, which lasted about 15 minutes. The observer had no optical aids, relying only on naked-eye observation. Weather conditions at the time were clear, with 15-mile visibility and scattered cloud cover.

The Air Force investigated the sighting and found no other witnesses to the event. Investigators noted that the object's color scheme, particularly the red and green lights, could possibly have been aircraft clearance lights. However, the file indicates that the object's colors had been reported differently at first: the observer initially described it as white when descending, then pink, green, and yellow, before these accounts were changed to red and green. The case file does not state a final conclusion about what the object was.

The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, consisting of 9 pages.