St Louis, MIssouriMay 1960

Unidentified

Summary

On the night of May 30, 1960, a witness in St. Louis observed a bright object in the eastern sky around 11:30 p.m. The object appeared low on the horizon and was large and luminous, giving off sparks and seeming to burn. The witness watched for about two minutes.

According to the witness account, the object moved erratically from east to west while hovering and changing speed and direction. What the witness saw next became more dramatic. At approximately 11:32 p.m., a very bright red object shaped like a ball suddenly appeared, seeming to be a solid mass of flames. It swayed back and forth, then hovered before moving directly from south toward north. The object was surrounded by numerous bright, light-yellow electrical flashes. Something huge and cloud-like seemed to detach itself from the red object, drifted westward while swaying up and down, and eventually became hidden in the clouds. The red object continued to burn more brightly, then about a third of it separated, moved slowly northwest, and seemed to burn up completely. A strong, heavy odor of burned or molten material filled the air. The remaining object eventually rose higher, hovered for some time while still burning, then was lost to view.

The U.S. Air Force acknowledged the report and requested the witness complete a formal questionnaire. In their evaluation, the Air Force concluded the sighting was "probably balloon," though the file notes that the erratic movements and burning described made it difficult to determine the source.

The complete case file, comprising eight pages, is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.

Reported location

St Louis, MIssouri

Date of incident

May 1960

State / country

MO / US

Page count

8 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 38

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 8

View transcribed text

fs Hall SE i F—— | " i * - EE ———— oy; : pAb ET x TIME ; 1 : pn oa =

B Lis TE ea y H g Sia ee dint de WERT Gl tot d da iat Ea Sia iin La) ctl Z Ros OH FY 0 STN IA INE RET WY RNY Se Ii

E i La PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD ¥ lie

I. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS

# 30 May,1960 Ct Louis, Missouri O Woes Bolloon

LE [m) Probably Balloon :

5 3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION 0.  PVemey mee |
5 2330 O Wes Aiicroft :
3 [RCT Jn d Ground- Visual O Ground-Rador Q Probably Aircraft |
: MT IAL0U30% ee Q Air Visual 0 Atrimercop) Rader |O Possibly Airereht |
: 5. PHOTO ’ O Was Astronomical
1: O Yes TR O Probably Astronomical
i 8 Ne Civilian : ; O Possibly Astronemicol
L! 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE 0 Other
jd ; : 5» Insufficient Dete for Evoluation |
¢ 2 Minutes Multiple West, Varied [DO Unknown
a

: 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS |
: The witness observed a bright object in Requested additional information |
| the East, reported as large and moving West to that given in letter, particularyy |
i burning and giving off sparks. It appeared concerning duration. Movements and burring
5 low on the horizon. fandom movements which indicate a hot air balloon sighting |
: : included hovering and changes in both speed however these are against the law ani

: and direction. are difficult to determine the source.

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i ATIC PORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28987065