Old Town, MaineMay 1955

Unidentified

Summary

On May 13, 1955, a civilian near Old Town and Bradley, Maine saw a single object at night, around 11:45 p.m. local time. The witness was a barber who worked at Dow Air Force Base. He first noticed the object through a small window while sitting at the edge of his bed.

The object was circular, red, and flaming, about the size of a quarter held at arm's length. At first it seemed to stand still over the treetops, then it moved slowly westward. It fell straight down and disappeared, as though it had burned itself out. The sighting lasted about four or five minutes. The night was dark but fairly clear, with stars out.

The Air Force record lists the conclusion as other, an aircraft flare. Officials checked with a Strategic Air Command liaison officer and verified the object was a photographic flare released from a Strategic Air Command aircraft.

Reported location

Old Town, Maine

Date of incident

May 1955

State / country

ME / US

Page count

5 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 23

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 5

View transcribed text

: : : PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD |
1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS |
0 HA Ce |
| 13 May 1955. 0ld Town, Maine a Rrebabity Boilson |
| 3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION Possibly Bailosn .
Loeal _— X& Ground- Visual 0 Ground-Radar a Probably Aireraft
GMT _ 14/ 03452 0 Air-Visual O Air-Intercept Radar O Possibly Aircraft
5. PHOTOS 6. SOURCE O Was Astronomical
3 0 Yes 0 Probably Astronomical
: %38 No Civilia O Possibly Astronomicol
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE 0X Other_Aj |
0 ibd Doto for Evaluation
4-5 minutes one straight down" Urkmown |
10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS :
One circular red flaming object, Other (Aircraft Flare)
; approx the size of a quarter held at Check with SAC Liaison Officer
arms length. Was observed to fall ADC, verified identifiecation
© |straight down and disappeared as thoug of object as photographic
] it burned itself out, flare released from SAC a/c.
4 ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)
L 0 Eh RBA 380 So SRB is GARE tis

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28961991