Osan, Korea, August 1961August 1961

On the night of August 27, 1961, two U.S. Air Force personnel at Osan Air Base in Korea watched a bright object move across the sky for about fifteen minutes. The object appeared as a round, white light about the size of a dime, but larger than the stars. It first showed up at an elevation of around 45 degrees above the horizon, toward the east, and disappeared at a higher angle toward the south. During the sighting, the object's color shifted from white to reddish.

The two witnesses, Special Agents Hayes and Hyde of the Office of Special Investigations, reported that the object moved very fast and grew brighter as it approached a certain point in the sky. Its flight path was irregular, with changes in both speed and direction. At one moment it stopped and hovered, remaining very bright and stationary for roughly two to three minutes. Then it began climbing steeply while changing color. When a jet fighter came over the base at low altitude, the object resumed forward movement, made a sharp 90-degree turn, and continued toward the east-southeast at a speed the witnesses believed exceeded any known aircraft.

The Air Force investigation found no radar confirmation of an unknown object in the area. A weather balloon had been released earlier, and a T-33 trainer aircraft was known to be operating nearby. The chief tower operator on duty had not seen the object but thought an F-86 fighter jet performing extensive maneuvers with afterburner in the local area could explain the sighting. The investigation noted that the color change from white to red might have resulted from smoke and haze in the area. However, investigators could offer no explanation for the reported high speed except to attribute it to observer error. The file concludes by noting a possible discrepancy between the sighting time and the weather balloon release time, suggesting the balloon might have been the object observed.

This case file, as held by the National Archives, comprises 16 scanned pages.