Montgomery, AlabamaAugust 1956

On the night of August 29, 1956, military observers in Montgomery, Alabama spotted a bright white object moving slowly across the sky. The object appeared larger than any star or planet and seemed to change shape as it moved. According to the official report, it occasionally gave off points of reddish light that resembled jet engine exhaust. The observers watched it for about four hours, seeing it move from southeast to east across the sky before it disappeared, then reappeared in nearly the same location. When it finally vanished, one observer noted it went out "as if a light switch had been turned off."

The witnesses included military personnel stationed in the area. They observed the object through binoculars for more than two hours and carefully tracked its position. The object's path took it from roughly 110 degrees azimuth at 32 degrees elevation when first spotted, to 180 degrees at 70 degrees elevation before disappearing around midnight. Weather conditions at the time were hazy with scattered clouds, visibility was about 15 miles, and winds were light.

The Air Force investigated the report and noted that Maxwell Air Force Base was located roughly six miles east of where the observers stood. The investigators considered whether the object might have been a ceiling light (a light used for weather observation) from the base that was diffused by scattered clouds in the area. They also noted that the object's appearance, duration, general course, and position all matched the characteristics expected if observers were seeing the planet Mars, which was prominent in the sky at that time and location in 1956. However, the investigators also noted conflicting statements from one witness that complicated the evaluation, leaving the case marked as unidentified on the official record.

The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, comprising 21 scanned pages.