Palm Springs, CaliforniaAugust 1957

On the evening of August 31, 1957, in Palm Springs, California, an observer noticed what appeared to be a brilliant star close to the moon, brighter than the moon itself. According to the case file, the light remained constant and then suddenly went out. The sighting lasted about eight minutes.

An Air Force investigator quickly identified the cause. The observer had witnessed the occultation of Saturn (an astronomical event in which one object passes in front of another), as the moon moved across the planet Saturn in the night sky. The investigator noted in the case file that Saturn, being a bright planet, would naturally disappear from view as it was eclipsed by the moon. The official Air Force evaluation classified the sighting as "astronomical."

The case file includes a letter from astronomer Clyde Tombaugh, famous for discovering the planet Pluto, who initially responded to the observer with some skepticism. Tombaugh acknowledged that the observer had seen something that appeared brighter than the moon and suggested that if other witnesses within 100 miles had also seen it, scientific measurements could have pinpointed the object's height and brightness. However, the investigator's final note was almost dismissive, remarking that it "took only a glance to note" that the person had observed a straightforward planetary occultation, adding the somewhat impatient comment: "It takes all kinds to make a world."

The full case file, spanning 20 scanned pages, is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.