Maryland, November 1957November 1957

Insufficient Data

Summary

On the morning of November 13, 1957, at Crownsville State Hospital in Maryland, a hospital employee heard a popping sound in the sky. Looking up, the worker spotted what appeared to be a parachute-shaped object floating down from a height of about 500 to 2,000 feet. The object drifted downward for roughly five to ten minutes, appearing to disintegrate as it fell, though no pieces actually separated from the main body. When it finally reached the ground near the hospital garage, the object had shrunk to the size of a cigarette paper. Attempts to pick up pieces of it caused them to break apart immediately.

A hospital police chief who witnessed the sighting helped collect a small amount of the remaining material. The samples were handed over to military personnel from Fort George G. Meade, who documented the find and sent it to higher commands for examination. Military investigators checked the landing site for explosives and radioactivity. They found no radioactive material and no evidence of danger from the object.

The Air Force investigation was hampered by the fact that the specimen essentially disintegrated or disappeared before it could be properly analyzed. Multiple military statements noted that without an intact sample, no definitive conclusion could be reached. However, the Air Force investigators and intelligence officers who reviewed the case suggested that the object was probably an accidentally released parachute flare, a theory based on the object's appearance and behavior. The initial Air Force evaluation form listed the case as insufficient data for evaluation, with a note suggesting it was possibly cloud seeding operations or even migratory spiders. The full case file, spanning 17 pages, is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.

Reported location

Maryland, November 1957

Date of incident

November 1957

State / country

? / XX

Page count

17 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 30

| SV ce 4 N | v «| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ; | . py « | Ch PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD | A = ns OPS | | TA FE A A A SS AED 0 7 ll § OY AP 5 HE A PY rl 07 BU © A OOS Bt MS Vr BPO + mPOA BB A | \. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS | : 0 Was Balloon | 13 November 195 Mary 1a; 0 Probably Balloon ae Sa a SU SR es 7 a, Maryland rf Possibly Balloon | 3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION hs " ; 0 Was Aircraft | tocal ws as sobs AX Ground- Visual 0 Ground-Radar 0 Probcbly Aircroft Cau any [31 JUO0A 0 Air Visual 0 Air-Intercept Radar 0 Possibly Aircrobt " 5. PHOTOS 6. SOURCE 0 Was Astronomical ; 0 Yes 0 Probably Astronomical | sil be mi [a | FARE TERR RI Ue EE Re Re 0 Possibly Astronomical | 7. LENGTH OF O3SERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE CRE RA SARS A, Xx Insufficient Data for Evaluation Co 0 Unknown Ee C8 I RESO, IR Uc RRO, [OU A SR: ISO SU Io. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS | Popping sound was heard, upon gazing No evaluation 1s possible without | upward a parachute type object was specimen. Possibly cloud sceding | seen floating to the earth, The operations. NO check was made at | object drifted downward for approx time of report, Also possibile mig- | O to 10 minutes and appeared to be ratory spiders, Cloud seeding most | disintegrating, though no pieces were | likely. | breaking wway from the body of the object. Upon falling © the ground, the object had shrunk to the size of a | cigarette paper and attempts to pick it up resulted in breakage. ATIC FORM 129 (R2YV 26 SEP 52) ian, A NL TD ERs ES RG abe Co daa a :