Project Blue Book Case File
Miami, Fla., July 1958July 1958
Summary
On July 17, 1958, a Miami police sergeant named Regan reported seeing a bright light in the sky at around 9:45 a.m. The object appeared about twenty times brighter than an ordinary star and hung motionless due east of Miami at an elevation of about 45 degrees above the horizon. Regan described it as very brilliant and noted that it remained stationary throughout his observation.
The Air Force investigation found that the object's location, brightness, and elevation matched almost exactly with Aldebaran, a bright star in the constellation Taurus. Aldebaran sits at approximately the same azimuth (direction) east of Miami and is slightly lower in the sky than Regan's estimate. The file notes that the star's appearance can be greatly distorted by atmospheric conditions, making it appear much brighter and more unusual than it normally does. The case contained very limited information, and the duration of the sighting was not recorded, but the characteristics present in the report are consistent with an astronomical body viewed through the atmosphere.
The Air Force concluded this was a sighting of an astronomical object, most likely the star Aldebaran.
The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, 26 pages.
Reported location
Miami, Fla., July 1958
Date of incident
July 1958
State / country
? / XX
Page count
26 scanned pages
USAF evaluation
unknown
Microfilm
T1206, Roll 33