Stockton, CaliforniaSeptember 1956

Unidentified

Summary

On September 13, 1956, in Stockton, California, a civilian witness reported seeing an unidentified object at 1:53 a.m. The object was described as the size of a pin head at arm's length and looked like a star. It was heading east above 9,000 feet at high speed. The witness observed the object in the air for one minute before it disappeared from sight. The Air Force interviewed the witness, who submitted AF Form 112. The sighting was probably caused by a balloon launched in Vernalis. The Air Force concluded the sighting was unidentified.

Reported location

Stockton, California

Date of incident

September 1956

State / country

CA / US

Page count

3 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 26

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 3

View transcribed text

PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD

1. DATE | 2. LOCATION | 12. CONCLUSIONS
Z3 September 1956 | Stockton, California | [X] Was Balloon
 | | [X] Probably Balloon
3. DATE-TIME GROUP | 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION | [ ] Possibly Balloon
Local | [ ] Ground-Visad | [ ] Ground-Radar | [ ] Was Aircraft
GMT 1/D/0534Z | [X] Air-Visad | [ ] Air-Intercept Radar | [ ] Probably Aircraft
 | | | [ ] Possibly Aircraft
5. PHOTOS | 6. SOURCE | [ ] Was Astronomical
[ ] Yes | | [ ] Probably Astronomical
[X] No | Civilian | [ ] Possibly Astronomical
 | | [ ] Other
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION | 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE | [ ] Insufficient Date for Evaluation
One minute | one | easterly | [ ] Unknown

10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING | 11. COMMENTS
One inch-shaped object, size of the | Flt D-1 interviewed source and
head of pin at arm's length. Object | submitted AF Form 112 which indi-
looked like a star. Object was heading | cates that sighting was probably
east above 9,000 ft. at high rate of | caused by a balloon launched in
speed. Object was viewed airvisually | Vernalis.
for one minute and disappeared by
fading out of sight.

ATIC FORM 329 (REV 25 SEP 52)

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28967565