Melborne, FloridaOctober 1953

On the night of October 26, 1953, the co-pilot of a National Airlines flight saw something unusual in the sky near Melbourne, Florida. At 6:35 p.m., while flying at 18,000 feet about 15 miles southeast of East Melbourne, he spotted a large ball of green fire moving across the sky. The object appeared to be about 2 inches in diameter as seen through the aircraft window, though the co-pilot estimated it was actually about 50 miles away from his position.

The object was traveling on a straight course from south to north at an extremely high speed, maintaining a level altitude of around 25,000 feet. Within several seconds of the first sighting, three smaller balls of fire appeared behind the original object. These additional balls were about one-third the size of the first one and also moved very rapidly. The entire sighting lasted about 6 to 7 seconds before all the objects disappeared to the north. Weather conditions at the time were excellent, with unlimited visibility and clear skies.

The sighting was not isolated. A flight engineer on the same aircraft also saw the objects. Additionally, crews from two other National Airlines flights, numbered 585 and 454, reported seeing the same phenomenon while in the Miami area at roughly the same time. The observers described the objects as round balls of green fire with no erratic maneuvers, traveling in a straight line at a very fast rate of speed.

The Air Force investigated the sighting and compiled weather data, wind information at various altitudes, and observer statements. The file notes that the primary observer was estimated to be very reliable. However, the OCR text on the final pages becomes increasingly difficult to read clearly, and no clear conclusion regarding the nature of the objects appears in the legible portions of the file.

The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, comprising 11 pages.