Odebolt, IowaSeptember 1956

# Summary

On the night of September 6, 1956, residents of Pasadena, California saw a bright white light moving across the sky for about 41 minutes. The object appeared as large as a dime held at arm's length and moved from east to west in what observers described as an "orbital" path. At one point, the light reached an elevation of 45 degrees in the western sky before it disappeared behind trees.

The sighting attracted attention from multiple witnesses, including a Western Air Lines pilot, Pasadena police, and Air Defense Command personnel. First Lieutenant Mark Matlock, who watched the object from the roof of his building, noted that it moved slowly and made jerking, pausing motions that seemed inconsistent with normal aircraft behavior. The observation occurred during daylight conditions, with winds blowing from the west. Air Force jets were eventually scrambled in response to the sightings.

The Air Force concluded that the object was almost certainly the planet Venus. The file notes that Venus was positioned at 20 degrees elevation in the western sky at the time, and that the positional data and duration of the sighting strongly supported this conclusion. The investigators also noted that winds from the west would rule out a balloon explanation. Although the observer's reported elevation data seemed inconsistent with Venus's actual position, the overall evidence pointed to a misidentification of the bright planet.

The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, comprising 17 pages of documentation.