Nellis AFB, NevadaFebruary 1954

On February 23, 1954, a federal employee standing near the Washington Monument reported seeing an unusual object in the sky around 1645 hours (4:45 p.m.) while waiting for a bus. The observer described the object as round or possibly circular in shape, with a grayish-silver or transparent gray color. It appeared to be quite far away, possibly about four miles, and lasted about seven minutes or slightly less. A fellow bus passenger also witnessed the object. The observer noted that light seemed to be reflecting off the object's surface, and that it moved in a southeasterly direction before curving toward the northeast. At one point during the observation, the object appeared flat like a wafer when viewed from a different angle, suggesting it might have been rotating or shifting orientation.

The observer was confident the object was rigid, solid, and metallic, and firmly rejected the possibility it was either a balloon or aircraft. However, investigators determined that a large weather balloon had been released from Silver Hill, Maryland observatory just a few minutes before the sighting, with timing, elevation, and bearing that matched very closely with the reported observation. Officials noted the significance that despite the report coming from near a major government monument on a clear afternoon when thousands of people would have been leaving work, no other single observer reported seeing anything unusual, nor did aircraft in the area.

The complete case file of 32 pages is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.