MADISON WISC, October 1952October 1952

On October 30, 1952, two Air Police officers on duty at Truax Field near Madison, Wisconsin, watched an egg-shaped, silver-blue object pass overhead around 10:35 a.m. local time. Airman Harold T. Hamm spotted it first while a flight of F-86 fighter jets was landing at the base. He called over Airman Louis E. Geer to confirm what he was seeing.

Both men described the object as roughly the size of a B-36 bomber. It was moving south when they first saw it, then turned slowly toward the east at a level altitude. What caught their attention was the speed: they estimated it was moving faster than an F-86 could fly. The object showed no exhaust trail or visible means of propulsion. After about 30 seconds, it began climbing rapidly and disappeared into a haze at a very high altitude, somewhere over or near Madison.

The weather that day was clear with 15-mile visibility. Officers at Truax Field investigated the sighting and considered several explanations. One possibility they noted was a Naval aircraft from nearby Glenview Naval Air Station, perhaps a jet type unfamiliar to Air Force personnel. The report also pointed out that since a flight of F-86s was landing as the object appeared, the sound of those jets might have masked or confused what the observers heard. However, the report acknowledged a problem with this theory: any aircraft traveling at the speed described would have disappeared from sight in less than 30 seconds, not the 30 seconds the airmen reported watching it.

The Air Force concluded the object was "probably" a balloon, though the case file indicates some investigative uncertainty remained. The full case file, held by the National Archives, is reproduced below across 8 pages.