Southern California, November 1957November 1957

On November 30, 1957, something bright streaked across the evening sky over Southern California. Military observers at Naval Ordnance Test Station San Clemente Island watched it pass overhead. Three minutes later, it was spotted near Blythe. Within moments, reports came in from Oxnard, Ventura, and San Bernardino. The U.S. Air Force investigated at least six separate sightings that night, separated by significant distance.

At San Clemente Island, a director saw what he described as a large meteor with a bluish-white flame trailing behind it, shaped like a cone. The object appeared to be very bright and descended toward the ground over roughly 15 to 30 seconds before burning out. Another witness, an Air Force major driving 30 miles west of Blythe, described a round object with a reddish glow that changed to bluish as it crossed the sky in an arc from southwest to northeast, burning out after about 18 seconds. In Oxnard, a retired naval officer reported seeing a round object that traveled in an arc and faded after five seconds. Near Ventura, a civilian witness said the object flashed across the sky, burst into flame north of Santa Paula, and disappeared in approximately five seconds. In San Bernardino, another observer reported a round object described as resembling a half-dollar coin that traveled from southwest to northeast and vanished above the mountains toward Lake Arrowhead within three seconds.

The Air Force scrambled fighters from North Island to search the area where the object was last seen. They found nothing. Weather conditions that night included high, thin cirrus clouds and clear skies. Multiple observers and military personnel evaluated the evidence, and most reached the same conclusion: the object was likely a large meteor. The USAF form indicates the official evaluation was "Probably Balloon," though the full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, 24 pages.