Project Blue Book Case File
Seaford Long Island, NYSeptember 1958
Summary
On September 28, 1958, a truck driver in Seaford, Long Island saw an unusual object in the night sky while standing outside his home. The object appeared at approximately 11:25 p.m. and was visible for only one to one and a half seconds. He described it as resembling a blanket with red and blue flame, two short sparks, and what looked like speed trails coming from its upper and lower edges. The object moved across the sky in a south-southeasterly direction before disappearing instantaneously to the east.
The witness was a former airline pilot, which he believed qualified him as a reliable observer. He noted that the object was traveling flat, like no meteorite he had seen before, and was much larger. An airliner passed overhead several seconds after the sighting, heading toward LaGuardia Airport. The witness initially reported the incident to the U.S. Weather Bureau and then contacted the U.S. Air Force.
Air Force investigators examined weather conditions at the time, which showed clear skies and good visibility. An airdrome officer named Captain Fred Perry, on duty at the time, suggested the object was probably aircraft exhaust from a plane in a banking turn near the Babylon area. The New York City radar facility was checked as part of the investigation. The OCR in the case file becomes difficult to read in the analysis sections, making the final investigative conclusions unclear from the available text.
The full case file as it is held by the National Archives is reproduced below, comprising 19 pages.
Reported location
Seaford Long Island, NY
Date of incident
September 1958
State / country
NY / US
Page count
19 scanned pages
USAF evaluation
unknown
Microfilm
T1206, Roll 34