Malibu Beach, CaliforniaJanuary 1953

On January 29, 1953, Lieutenant Commander Rex Hardy Jr., a Navy pilot with approximately 5,248 hours of flying time, was piloting a twin-engine Beechcraft aircraft near Malibu Beach, California at 9,000 feet when he observed four metallic disc-shaped objects. The objects were flying in formation in a vertical plane at an estimated altitude of around 20,000 feet. Hardy estimated their speed at 1,200 miles per hour and reported they were heading southeast, eventually disappearing in the direction of Riverside, California. The sighting lasted approximately five minutes. Hardy was considered a reliable observer, and a newspaper reporter relayed his account to an Air Force intelligence officer the same day.

The Air Force Technical Information Sheet completed by Hardy provides additional details. He described the objects as resembling dime-sized discs, noted they had sharply outlined edges, and estimated them as possibly being aircraft or weather-related phenomena. Hardy was flying in clear daylight conditions when he made the sighting and reported the incident shortly after landing.

The Air Force's official record shows significant uncertainty about what Hardy witnessed. The initial conclusion in the case file stated "probably aircraft," but this assessment was later questioned. An Air Force Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) note dated after the initial report acknowledged that while Hardy was considered reliable, there was insufficient data available to draw a firm conclusion. The file also notes that a cross-check with other military radar installations revealed no unidentified radar tracks that correlated with Hardy's sighting. Additionally, officials from the 27th Air Division found no supporting evidence from other sources in the area that same day, though a weather balloon had been identified in a nearby location a day earlier.

The complete case file, comprising 15 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.