Rock Springs & Rawlins, Wyo., August 1958August 1958

In August 1958, residents of Rock Springs and Rawlins, Wyoming reported seeing an unusual object in the night sky. The sighting began early in the morning of August 1st. Ground observers, including civilians working at air traffic control stations, watched a round, ball-like object. The object appeared red and dull blue with a red and white tail extending toward the south. At first the object was stationary. Then it began moving westerly before disappearing from sight entirely. The total observation lasted about 40 minutes.

Military and civilian officials took the report seriously enough to ask commercial aircraft in the area to look for the object, but pilots who searched were unable to spot it. The weather in Rawlins at the time was clear with 15-mile visibility, favorable for observation. No radar confirmation of the sighting was obtained.

The Air Force investigated the case by reviewing weather conditions, checking for nearby aircraft, and examining whether known celestial objects could account for the sighting. Officials noted that Mars was rising in the east that night and was relatively bright at the time. They also considered the possibility of a meteor or comet, though without specific directional measurements it was difficult to reach firm conclusions. The investigators stated plainly that positional information would have been needed to identify the object with certainty. In September 1967, nine years after the sighting, an Air Force official replied to correspondence from the original observer, writing that the case "will be filed for information purposes only since at this late date a comprehensive study is not possible."

The full case file, comprising 18 pages, is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.