Lynchburg, VirginiaApril 1958

In April 1958, a Major with the U.S. Air Force spotted an unusual object while flying a C-47 transport plane near Lynchburg, Virginia. The Major was at the controls, traveling on a heading of 215 degrees (roughly southwest), when he noticed a grey-black object to the right of and slightly above the aircraft's nose. The object was falling at an angle in a slow, rolling motion. Within four seconds, it disappeared behind the plane. The object made no sound, left no exhaust, and gave off no vapor.

The sighting triggered an official investigation because the Major filed a CIRVIS report (a military system for reporting unusual aerial events). Air Force officials at Langley requested more details from the Major, since the initial report was brief. The Major completed a detailed questionnaire describing what he saw. He estimated the object was roughly 14 inches square and compared its color to charcoal or slightly molten grey-black metal. He believed it might have been a piece of cast metal or machinery falling from another aircraft, though he acknowledged there was no evidence to support that theory.

Weather conditions at the time were clear, with visibility of 3.5 miles and a few cumulus clouds. The Air Force examined all available information and could find no conventional explanation for the sighting. In the end, the service classified the object as unidentified, meaning it did not match known aircraft, balloons, astronomical phenomena, or other explainable objects. The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, consisting of 17 pages of scanned documents.