South Charleston, West Va., September 1959September 1959

On September 22, 1959, at 8:00 p.m., a fourteen-year-old in South Charleston, West Virginia, saw a bright green object moving across the night sky. The object was round and about the size of a large star. It flew in a straight line heading west, and the witness watched it for about six seconds before it vanished. The sky was completely clear at the time.

The witness reported that the object moved fairly fast and stopped once for about two or three seconds during its flight. It made no sound. When asked later to describe what he saw in more detail, the witness noted that the object had a bright yellow tail and appeared to explode or disappear suddenly. He estimated the object was roughly the size of a half dollar held at arm's length.

Air Force officials sent the witness a detailed questionnaire to gather more information about the sighting. The witness completed the form, providing additional details about the direction he was looking, the brightness of the object compared to the night sky, and his best guess about the object's altitude and distance from his location. He stated that he had seen similar objects several times before during the summer of that year.

The Air Force Technical Intelligence Center evaluated the case and concluded that the phenomenon was a meteor. The characteristics reported by the witness, including the bright green color, the yellow tail, and the sudden disappearance, matched the properties of a meteor entering Earth's atmosphere, according to the file.

The full case file, consisting of 13 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.