New York, May 1959May 1959

Insufficient Data

Summary

# Summary

On May 2, 1959, at dusk, a Trans-Canada Airlines pilot and first officer spotted a bright object over Poughkeepsie, New York, while flying a Viscount 717 airliner at 15,290 feet heading north. The object appeared squarish at first, then round, about the size of a silver dollar, and bluish-white in color. It moved in a southwesterly direction and stayed visible for about 30 minutes. The pilot was so interested that he reversed course and chased it, flying at 215 knots.

At nearly the same time, an FAA controller at Westchester County Airport Control Tower, west of the airport, saw a tear-drop shaped object reflecting sunlight through 5x binoculars and with the naked eye. It glowed and disappeared as darkness fell, remaining visible for about 45 minutes.

Around the same time, military radar operators at an air defense center in New York picked up an unidentified radar target. The radar plots showed no clear flight pattern, though most appeared within 35 nautical miles of Bradley Field in Connecticut. The target faded permanently after one hour and eight minutes. An F-94 fighter jet from Suffolk County Air Force Base was sent to investigate but found no target when it arrived.

The Air Force intelligence officer who examined the case noted insufficient evidence to form a preliminary analysis. One of the airline pilots suggested the object might have been a balloon, but no definite conclusion appears in the file.

The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, comprising 9 pages.

Reported location

New York, May 1959

Date of incident

May 1959

State / country

? / XX

Page count

9 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 36

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 9

View transcribed text

»
i yg - Py rm ey 3 INT
1 : PRCJECT 10073 RECCRD CARD
1 1. DATE | 2. LocATioN 12. CONCLUSIONS
1 0 Wos Balloon
; AY ( i X74) 0 Probably Balloon
o Br ee me NN Dossibly {loc
1 3. DATE-TIME GROUP | 47 TYPE OF OBSERVATION RL ety
i A prauti : os oa 0 Was Aircraft
Local Li 22d Fa (ECD ded 8 BN Visual IX Ground-Ra x
i ocal Sat fe OL REA round : At Ground-Radar 1 Probably Aircroft
H GUT OR/22487 16 U5 /01U04 O7Air- Visual 7 O Air-Intercapt Radar | UY Possibly Aircrott :
i 5. PHOTQCS 6. SOURCE ea FW SS Aa tana mic a!
E 0 Yes 0 Probably Astronomical
i 2 No MElikary & Olvilicn 0 Possibly Astronomical
i EIA ATP RINGER Ch EO RE eS SE SN [i eh EO A tell fond ahi oe CU NB Wii Sp os |
ji 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8, NUMBER OF CBJECTS | 9. COURSE [Othe ran telinafed iio otis Spo 0k
B 0 Insufficient Data for Evaluation
i | 1 0 Unknown
| SOAR Ca Hel Be sR SE RE EI So Ia ES OA 2 AC CIB CR i M1 LA TR OR Ce Er eC
Eo 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS
| ETE Lon PETG TY A ENV JL CRT Je RS p sil ARs : FT = : . Te
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|. no logical sequence, but most were within | Eo oo | : :
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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28983183