MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIF, September 1955September 1955

On the night of September 13, 1955, witnesses near Mountain View and Hollister, California reported seeing three separate luminous objects streak across the sky in quick succession. An Air Force sergeant stationed at a ground observation post near Castle Air Force Base saw an orange-red, round object with a trailing light cross the sky in about three seconds. Minutes later, a civilian observer in Hollister spotted a yellow light resembling a comet's tail, roughly the size of a nickel held at arm's length, which remained visible for about ten seconds. A third witness, a mechanical engineer in Mountain View, then reported seeing a round white object with a tail similar to a falling star that blinked out after five seconds.

The observations occurred at night under hazy conditions. All three sightings involved objects traveling from north to south, or northeast to southwest, and all three witnesses reported the objects fading or disappearing quickly. The Air Force investigators noted that no known aircraft were in the vicinity at the time, and the sightings were not confirmed by other sources such as radar.

The intelligence officer handling the case suggested the objects were likely falling meteors, noting the resemblance of the witnesses' descriptions to the typical appearance of a meteor entering the atmosphere. However, the official Air Force evaluation recorded on the case card lists the conclusion as simply "unknown." The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, totaling 7 pages of microfilm.