Madrid, Spain, August 1955August 1955

On August 22, 1955, at 1443 local time (about 2:43 p.m.), a U.S. Air Force major saw an object over Madrid, Spain. He was Major William A. Burdick, a senior pilot with about 6,900 flying hours and also a trained celestial navigator. He stood near the Generalisimo Building in north central Madrid.

He heard a jet aircraft, looked up, and saw a white spherical object he first thought was a weather balloon. The object seemed to turn silver. It stayed in nearly the same spot for about 15 seconds, then moved slowly toward the southeast. As it moved, its shape seemed to change from a sphere to a disc and back. It then gained altitude quickly and rose out of sight. The whole sighting lasted about one minute and 15 seconds to one minute and 30 seconds. The sky was clear and cloudless.

Investigators found that a Spanish weather office released a red pilot balloon, one meter wide, at 1400 hours that day. The balloon could have drifted over the northern part of the city. They also found two F-86 jets were flying in the Madrid area at the time. The Air Force concluded the sighting was a balloon, with the jets explaining the sound.