Olmsted AFB, Middletown, PAJune 1954

Unidentified

Summary

On June 18, 1954, at 7:42 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, personnel at Olmsted Air Force Base in Middletown, Pennsylvania spotted a round, silver object hovering to the southwest of the base. The object appeared to be about the size of a dime held at arm's length.

Two witnesses at the base control tower and the aircraft dispatcher saw the object and began photographing it with a camera on hand. The object moved very slowly in a westerly direction and appeared almost motionless for much of the observation. It remained visible below a cloud layer that the weather department estimated was at 31,000 feet. Throughout the sighting, the object showed no change in color, size, or shape. At 9:32 a.m., the object faded away into the distance and disappeared from sight. The entire observation lasted approximately three hours.

In the summary statement included in the file, one observer noted that the object resembled a balloon, with what appeared to be a string hanging from the bottom. That same observer concluded that the object was a balloon. However, the Air Force's official evaluation of the case was listed as unidentified.

The full case file, comprising 16 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.

Reported location

Olmsted AFB, Middletown, PA

Date of incident

June 1954

State / country

PA / US

Page count

16 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 21

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 16

View transcribed text

4 PeOJECT 10073 RECORD CARD

ag SS ee
: 1. DATE ° PL OLOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS

br: i ed

4 E72 Se Sa i Be A{ Was Bolloon

P 18 June 1954 Clrmsad AFB, Middletown. Pa CO Probably Reyioon

: 3. DATE-TIME GROUP [4 Tve® OF OBSERVATION Fe lh ida gi

: a nv t 0 Was Aiicroft

4 Local rn | 0 Smond-Yisual 5X DO Ground-Rodar 0 Probably ‘Aiverafs

. MT AS11028 I ECAImYisuel 0 Air-Intercep? Radar 0 Possibly Aircraft

1 5. PHOTOS 3 ES Es SOURCE O Was Astronomicol

i qd Yes Videon { O Probably Astronomical

1 ‘No Photos Military SH sl Leb

Ek 7. LENGTH OF OASERVYATION (8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE nF 0 11,1) Annee En Bs BO SA Pe LE
3 ‘ 0 Insufficient Data for Evaluotion
3 San a8 0 Unknown

bE ie ours { al: WJ

3 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF 3IGMTING 11. COMMENTS

E: found, silver object hoverinz to SOW Ty, A Rag eR SE Aas te _—

b ETE g ) oe iWO ILS scCramp.ed and reported 0oject

3 of Observer. to be a balloon. |
L ATIC PORM 329 (REY 26 SEP 52) i

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28958589