S of Midway Islands, September 1960September 1960

On September 26, 1960, at 07:00 GMT (7 a.m.), a military aircraft crew flying south of the Midway Islands spotted an unusual object in the sky. The crew first saw it from their left scanner station, followed by sightings from the right scanner, navigator, pilot, and aircraft commander. The object was round or oval in shape and appeared to be about six inches in diameter if held at arm's length. It continuously changed color, cycling through red, green, and white, with each color lasting three to four seconds before shifting to the next. The light was reported as very bright.

The object's behavior seemed remarkable to the witnesses. It climbed from water level at the eight o'clock position, sped past the tail of the aircraft to the five o'clock position, and then disappeared from view as the aircraft made a left turn. When spotted again, the aircraft was level at fifteen thousand feet on a course of 210 degrees. The object appeared at sixty degrees relative bearing and forty degrees elevation, then moved across the nose of the plane to 330 degrees bearing at a lower elevation, finally vanishing behind a cloud bank. The entire sighting lasted four minutes, with no sound detected and no visible tail or trail.

The Air Force's investigation revealed that witnesses had provided an apparent size that, if accurate, would place the object about one mile away. However, the Air Force's conclusion was that the crew had observed atmospheric refraction of the bright star Arcturus. Refraction occurs when light bends as it passes through layers of air at different temperatures and densities. Under these conditions, stars near the horizon can appear to twinkle, change color, shift in brightness and size, and seem to move around in the sky. The color changes happen because light of different wavelengths (colors) bends at slightly different angles. The apparent motions observed by the crew, the Air Force concluded, were likely caused by atmosphere irregularities combined with the aircraft's own movement. The file notes that even experienced professional astronomers have been temporarily fooled by this optical effect.

The complete case file, as preserved by the National Archives, spans 13 pages.