Nevada, December 1956December 1956

Insufficient Data

Summary

On December 4, 1956, an Air Force pilot saw one object over Nevada. The pilot was flying a T-33 jet at 38,000 feet, above the clouds, on a clear night. A passenger saw the same thing. The object was in view for about three to five seconds.

The report described a dazzling white ball of fire with a long white trail falling toward earth. It was first noticed as a bright flash that lit up the whole area. The object appeared the size of a silver quarter and left a white trail like an aircraft contrail. Before disappearing it seemed to burst, leaving red glowing objects or streamers falling straight down.

The Air Force record card lists the cause as a meteor. The card said the pilot was apparently very close to a fireball that shattered as it hit the denser part of the atmosphere. This opinion was confirmed by an Air Force astronomer. Project 10073 was the Air Force's official record system for reports of unidentified flying objects.

Reported location

Nevada, December 1956

Date of incident

December 1956

State / country

? / XX

Page count

4 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 27

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 4

View transcribed text

( i i
| PROJECT 10072 RECORD CARD : :
| 1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
| 0 Wos Balloon
| 4 December 1956 | Nevada 0 Probably Balloon
| ETE GRBs GE te TRE OPIGRRERVATION: | Poss pdlieen |
| Local JARED « 1: 08 vr Ce I 0 Ground- Visual DO Ground-Radar 8 Probably Aircraft
| GMT 04/12002 XX Air Visual 0 Air-Intercept Radar O Possibly Aircraft
| 8 PHOTOS en Bs . SOURCE 7 |o Was Astronomical Meteor
| O Yes O Probably Astronomical
| XXNo | AF Pilot x Possibly Astronomical
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE Elk ORGINAL CR ETE A
O Insufficient Dota for Evaluation
3-5 seconds | one wm dgr arc to earn”
10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS
AF pilot flying T-33 at 38,000 ft Description and characteristics
observed dazzling white ball of of object indicate that pilot
fire with long white trail falling apparently was in the very close| .
earthward, Before disappearing vicinity of a fireball, Fireball
appeared to burst or explode leav- shattered or lost fragments upon
ing red glowing objects or streamers, impact with the denser portion
of the earth's atmosphere,
Observing such a body at close
range is generally considered
a NEE Opinion corroborated
by ATIC astronomer,
ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)
od 5 /
:

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28968549