St. Lawrence Island, AlaskaFebruary 1958

On the night of February 28, 1958, a U.S. Air Force weather observer on St. Lawrence Island, Alaska, spotted a bright light in the sky. The observer, Airman David Juggan, was taking routine weather measurements at Northeast Cape when he noticed the object around 1121 GMT (11:21 p.m.). The light appeared about the size of a half dollar when viewed through 7x50 binoculars, though it would have looked much smaller to the naked eye. It had a semi-circular shape that seemed jagged at first but became smoother and flatter as the observer watched.

The object remained completely stationary for almost thirty minutes, positioned at an azimuth of approximately 285 degrees (roughly west-southwest from the observer's location). The light varied in brightness during the sighting, with the base of the light appearing brighter than the rest. The object finally faded from view at the same azimuth where it had been observed. Weather conditions at the time were clear with good visibility, though there was some haze present.

Military personnel quickly tried to track the object. The 712 Air Control and Warning Squadron at Northeast Cape attempted to locate it on their FPS-3 radar, but the radar could not pick up any return from the object. The Operations Section also contacted a radar station at Campion, Alaska, which likewise had no success. Interestingly, the station's barograph recorded two sudden pressure spikes during the sighting period, which analysts speculated might have been caused by a distant explosion, though no other evidence of such an event was found.

The Air Force analysis noted that the bright star Capella was positioned in almost the exact line of sight the observer reported, at an elevation of approximately 40 to 50 degrees. The analysis concluded that unusual appearances of stars and planets observed in Arctic regions through binoculars, especially in conditions with haze or fog, were well documented and could account for the sighting. After reviewing the limited data available, the Air Force tentatively concluded that the object observed was probably an astronomical body, most likely the star Capella.

The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, 9 pages.