Tigvariak Island, AlaskaJuly 1949

On July 9, 1949, a civilian employee at a survey camp on Tigvariak Island, Alaska, heard a loud whistling sound that he compared to a high-powered shell or projectile. Within seconds, he spotted six or seven dark objects overhead traveling southwest at very high speed. The objects moved in a loose, circular formation and disappeared from view after one and a half minutes.

The observer reported that the whistling sound had lasted about 30 seconds before he saw the objects. An Air Force officer who interviewed him found the man to be honest and dependable. The survey camp sat roughly one-half mile away from the open water, which placed it in an isolated area of the Arctic.

Weather records from a nearby station reported that a bright object was also sighted through a theodolite (a surveying instrument used to measure angles and distances) at Point Barrow, about 40 miles away, on the same day around 2040 hours (8:40 p.m.). That object was estimated to be at an altitude of 50,000 feet and showed no notable vertical movement during the five minutes it was tracked.

Two other men at the survey camp heard the whistling sound and confirmed the observer's account, though they did not see the objects themselves. One man noted that the noise did not resemble any jet aircraft he knew of.

After reviewing all available information, the Air Force office concluded that the object sighted at Point Barrow was likely the planet Venus. The case file does not state whether the same explanation was applied to the Tigvariak Island sighting itself. The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, consisting of 6 pages.