Project Blue Book Case File
(near) Hensely, ArkansasOctober 1956
Summary
On the evening of October 20, 1956, someone driving near Hensley, Arkansas saw a streak or flash of light descend across the sky until it appeared to burst into flames as it hit the ground. The sighting lasted for what the observer described as a "very short" space of time, and the whole event was watched from inside a moving automobile.
The Air Force investigator noted that the description, duration, and the bright flash of light suggested the object might have been a meteor. This conclusion appears in the official record card as "Possibly Balloon" and "Probably Balloon," though the detailed case summary leans toward the meteor explanation.
The file shows that the observation was recorded as ground-based and visual, with no photographs taken. Beyond the core sighting details and the witness's account, the case file contains mostly standard Air Force forms and related administrative materials from November 1956. The OCR quality of the original documents makes it difficult to extract additional specific details about the investigation or the witness.
The Air Force ultimately marked this case as "unknown" in its final evaluation. The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, comprising 18 scanned pages.
Reported location
(near) Hensely, Arkansas
Date of incident
October 1956
State / country
AR / US
Page count
18 scanned pages
USAF evaluation
unknown
Microfilm
T1206, Roll 26