Seattle, WashingtonOctober 1957

Unidentified

Summary

# Seattle, Washington, October 1957

Two soldiers at a Nike missile battery near Seattle spotted something unusual in the sky while watching an airliner approach the airport. The two white objects appeared below and behind the commercial aircraft, each about the size of a dime held at arm's length. The men watched for 25 to 30 seconds as the objects banked from northwest to southwest, then back toward the north before disappearing. One witness later said they looked like two parachutes.

The Air Force interviewed the soldiers by phone and in person. Both were considered reliable observers. The weather that day was clear and dry with excellent visibility, which ruled out clouds or other atmospheric tricks. Wind data was collected from the Seattle-Tacoma Airport, along with information about weather balloons released during the same period.

In their official analysis, the Air Force investigators noted that "the unquestioned reliability of the observer, together with the clear visibility existing at the time of sighting" confirmed the objects were genuinely observed. However, they added that "the probable cause of such sightings opens itself only to conjecture, and leaves no logical explanation based on the facts at hand." The case was marked unidentified.

The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, consisting of 11 pages.

Reported location

Seattle, Washington

Date of incident

October 1957

State / country

WA / US

Page count

11 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 29

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 11

View transcribed text

ge A EA Ash es bi ve AY SOT AA SSE — . i "
Fone 8 PROJECT: 10073 RECORD CARD gg
/ § : |
/] 1. DATE " 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS :
& OD Wos Balloon
ctober 1957 Seattle, Washington S Ab 11.4 lm |
‘3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION ossibly Balloon
O Was Aireroft
Br Sr —— & Ground- Vi sval () Ground-Rador (a) Probably Aireroft
BE BRE LE EO  — 0 Air Visuel O Air-Intercept Rodor O Possibly Aireroft
S P : ; O Was Astronomicol
O Yes O Probably Astronomicol
XE No Military OD Possibly Astronomical Ee
7. LENGTH OP.OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE 0 Other UNIDENTIFIED
DO Insufficient Date for Eveluotion
O Unknown
25 to 30 seconds two NW to SW to N
10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS
Two round white objects the size of Unidentified.
a dime at arm's length, Objoccts ware
seen appearing from the NW, banking |
away to the SW, flying a short
crossing course & banking away to the
1 NW. Objects were in sight for from :
25 to 30 seconds. Sightaod below & to
rear of airliner moving from NW to
SE. |
ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 32)
/
; : 3 ;
LY
b Ea ac i i is dart dat ho Sa i Whoa a SB SLi

/ 11

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28972033