Tennessee, Ky & Indiana, July 1958July 1958

Insufficient Data

Summary

On the night of July 10, 1958, a bright flaming object streaked across the sky over Tennessee, Kentucky, and Indiana in just a few seconds. Multiple witnesses in different locations reported seeing the same event almost at the same time. The object was round and appeared to be on fire, glowing from reddish-white to orange as it moved generally from east to west, leaving a trail of smoke or flame behind it.

Observers reported the sighting from Hendersonville, Tennessee; Scottsville, Kentucky; Godman Airfield and Fort Knox, Kentucky; and Milltown, Indiana, all at approximately 0130Z (around 1:30 a.m.) on July 10. The sighting lasted only about twenty to forty seconds, depending on the observer's account. One report mentions an electrician in Milltown who looked up and saw the object fading as it descended.

The U.S. Air Force investigated the incident and compared the witnesses' descriptions to known natural phenomena. The Air Force's intelligence officer concluded that the object's characteristics matched those of a bolide, which is a large, bright meteor or fireball. The timing also aligned with the Earth's passage through the Capricornid and Aquarid meteor showers, periods when fireballs are more common in the night sky. No evidence in the file suggests the Air Force reached any other conclusion.

The full case file, consisting of 14 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.

Reported location

Tennessee, Ky & Indiana, July 1958

Date of incident

July 1958

State / country

? / XX

Page count

14 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 33

ta PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD Sind aa I. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS O Was Balloon 10 Jul 8B Tennessee, Ky & Indiana O Probably Ballcon 3. DATE-TIME GROUP % TYPE OF OBSERVATION 0 Possibly Balloon : v O Was Aircraft [TY | [P———— Ground Vi svel O Ground-Rodor a Probably Aircraft omtl1/0128-0 LL A 0 Ain Viel O Air-Intercept Radar 0 Possibly Aircraft 'HOTO! JOUR 13: Was Astronomical ' tL oor O Probably Astronomical Military & Civilian O Possibly Astronomical 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE sh - on smo bg Data for Evaluation 4 secs one E to W pga 5. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS 1 Rnd, flaming obj, color ranging fm Characteristics & description are reddish-white to orange w/19ng smoke |those of a bolide., of flaming tail, moving generally Eas to West. : | | ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52) | | | Be “| fl / gl 20 &E PN EE : - ce % ok a | | Y "a S$ ‘ : t [ 73 A fi «iW ® | i \ of 5 | ®: : / 14 2 @®: i | EL li ; | ®o || ¢ } | eo | @ | RA 44 | | EE TREES i ® oy Tarp He A SS GB ess ions. bah Alii