Project Blue Book Case File
New Albany, MississippiJuly 1959
Summary
On the evening of July 5, 1959, a resident of New Albany, Mississippi saw an unusual object in the western sky. The object was reddish-silver in color and appeared motionless at first. Its shape was not round but oblong, tilted at roughly a 45-degree angle. In size, it looked similar to the diameter of the sun as seen from the ground.
After about three minutes of watching, the witness noticed a thin white trail appearing behind the object, running parallel to it and about one-quarter the length of the object itself. Shortly after the trail became visible, the object began to move and climbed upward into the clouds. The witness noted that the trail was thin and fluffy, unlike typical airplane contrails (condensation trails produced by aircraft at high altitude). The witness went indoors to get binoculars, and when looking back outside saw the object reappear briefly before it disappeared back into the clouds.
The Air Force's analysis suggested the object was probably an aircraft. The investigators noted that the initial impression of the object being stationary may have resulted from the object moving either toward or away from the witness, which can create the illusion of no motion. They observed that contrails are often thin and fluffy in appearance, consistent with what the witness described. The evidence in the file indicates this was likely an aircraft undertaking a routine flight.
The full case file, including the witness questionnaire and all supporting documentation, is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, spanning 15 pages.
Reported location
New Albany, Mississippi
Date of incident
July 1959
State / country
MS / US
Page count
15 scanned pages
USAF evaluation
unidentified
Microfilm
T1206, Roll 36