McChord AFB, WashingtonJune 1957

Unidentified

Summary

On June 14, 1957, at 11:21 a.m. local time, McChord Air Force Base in Washington detected a normal radar pip on ground radar that was lost in ground clutter. The radar signal showed the object at various altitudes between 10,000 and 50,000 feet, moving on a heading of 240 degrees at speeds ranging from 5 to 20 knots. The sighting lasted 39 minutes. The object descended in a straight line at approximately 2,000 feet per minute. Military personnel suspected the radar return was from a deflated weather balloon. A T-33 aircraft from McChord AFB Instrument School was diverted to investigate but made no visual sighting. The Coast Guard investigated the area of possible landing. The Air Force concluded the radar target was a suspected deflated weather balloon descending from 2,000 feet.

Reported location

McChord AFB, Washington

Date of incident

June 1957

State / country

WA / US

Page count

3 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 28

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 3

View transcribed text

PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD

1. DATE: 14 June 1957

2. LOCATION: McChord AFB, Washington

3. DATE-TIME GROUP: Local / GMT 14/2114Z

4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION: Ground-Visual / Ground-Radar / Air-Visual / Air-Intercept Radar

5. PHOTOS: Yes / No

6. SOURCE: Military

7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION: 39 minutes

8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS: ONE

9. COURSE: down

10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING: Normal radar pip til lost in ground clutter.

11. COMMENTS: This is a suspected deflated WX balloon. Descent 2,000 f.p.m.

12. CONCLUSIONS: Was Balloon / Probably Balloon / Probably Balloon / Was Aircraft / Probably Aircraft / Possible Aircraft / Was Astronomical / Probably Astronomical / Possible Astronomical / Other / Insufficient Data for Evaluation / Unknown

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28970269