Tioga, North DakotaAugust 1958

Unidentified

Summary

On August 3, 1958, a police officer near Tioga, North Dakota, reported an unidentified flying object starting at about 0905Z. The chief of police described one vaguely spherical object the size of a dime held at arm's length. Its color varied from blue-white to red. It moved slowly westward, seeming to pass from dark cloud to dark cloud, and gradually faded out. The object was observed for 2 hours and 35 minutes, using binoculars at times.

Weather had broken clouds and scattered thunderstorms. An F-89J interceptor was sent to the area and searched from 20,000 to 36,000 feet but found nothing visually or on radar, even while ground observers said the object was still visible. The preparing officer noted the object could have been a planet, star, or balloon. A news release that day reported astronomers identified a bright object in the sky as the planet Mars. The Air Force conclusion on the Project 10073 record card was astronomical. Project 10073 was the Air Force's official record for unidentified flying object reports.

Reported location

Tioga, North Dakota

Date of incident

August 1958

State / country

ND / US

Page count

4 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 33

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 4

View transcribed text

i re >
Bie: EL Fre FAIA ga EE a EAT mi alma i ti AERO pe HE a FN A ET Co re A apt PRI SCRv  SRRNS MHRA dh 4 J tl su de LR
. A \
~
|
L}
4
PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD
1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS |
O Wes Bolloon |
3 August 1958 Tioga, North Dakota O Probably Balloon
3. DATE-TIME GROUP + TYPE OF OBSERVATION 0 Possibly Bolloon
3 " O Wes Aircraft i
- H
Local sarap I TT oy rd Pe O Ground-Redor a P robebly Aircraft
mT 03700002 a Air Visual O Air-Intercept Rodar DO Possibly Aircralt |
5. PHOTOS . lV) x. Was Astronomical 1's
O Yes . |o Probably Astronomical :
a Ne Civilian police O Possibly Astronomical
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9 COURSE PR) |
2 ro ano Doto for Evaluation
nown |
2 hrs 35 mins 3 ag {
10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING i 11. COMMENTS
{
vaguely spherical obj, size of dime, Astro computer & 19d& &, Lheneris) |
color varying fm blue-white to red, shows Mars in locatio: oi |
moving Westerly at a slow rate of observation.
speed, | |
i
|
] ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52) |
d
CA EE Tra Ce) al
| i i & A

/ 4

Use ← → keys to navigate · scans hosted by the U.S. National Archives

Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28979185