Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaAugust 1954

Unidentified

Summary

On August 22, 1954, between 1940 and 2005 hours (7:40 p.m. and 8:05 p.m.), residents of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, reported seeing unidentified objects in the sky. The objects were described as round and silver in color. They hovered in one place, then appeared to become smaller or disappear. The sighting lasted approximately 25 minutes.

Multiple witnesses observed the phenomena. Personnel at the scene described the objects as balloons. The Air Force noted that upper air balloons were in the area at the time of the sighting. A Philadelphia newspaper carried a story about the sighting. The U.S. Air Force received a spot intelligence report dated August 25, 1954, from the 3rd District office of the Office of Special Investigations in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, concerning the incident.

Weather conditions at the time were partially cloudy. The investigation examined the objects' appearance, movement, and the possibility of conventional explanations. The Air Force's official evaluation of this case, as recorded on the case file cover sheet, was "unidentified."

The full case file, consisting of seven pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.

Reported location

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Date of incident

August 1954

State / country

PA / US

Page count

7 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 21

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 7

View transcribed text

A ED Se AE SR SER SA
PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD
1. DATE 2. LOCATION : BR CONCLUSIONS
Arya a | Olah ae oa TE Cee Bx Was Balloon i
22 August 1954 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 0 Probably Balicon
3. DATE-TIME GROUP | 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION 0 Possibly Balleon
: 1940 Vi : O Wos Aircraft
Local 53 00L OTF | £ Ground-VYisual 0 Ground-Raodar a Probably Abr cratt
GMT ~J/ £ i O Air Visual 0 Air-intercept Radar O Possibly Aircraft
5. PHOTOS | 8. SOURCE O Was Astronomical
0 Yes O Probably Astronomical
No Civilian 0 Passibly Astronomical
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION | 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE BY Other milan ttn iis iy Sia
O Insufficient Data for Evaluation
| 25 Minutes 1 or 5 NE 0 Unknown
10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS ER
Round, silver, hoversd in one place-became Phily newspaper carried stroy. W/X |
smaller or disappeared, personnel describad objects as balloons, |
Upper air balloons were in area. i
ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)
4 A

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28959369