Travis AFB, Calif., April 1959April 1959

On the evening of April 8, 1959, personnel at Travis Air Force Base in California saw a bright object streaking across the sky while they were searching for an overdue aircraft. The object appeared as a white flame giving off white sparks. It descended at a steep angle, between 39 and 45 degrees, and then suddenly disintegrated into three pieces, an event one witness described as looking like an afterburner being shut off. The sighting lasted only seconds.

Tower operators at Travis AFB observed the event, and similar reports came in from other Air Force bases in the area: Mather AFB, Beale AFB, and the Reno Air National Guard Base. A news article from the Dallas Times Herald described the object breaking apart in the sky about 75 miles southeast of San Francisco, with two pieces burning up and a third piece apparently landing in the Pacheco Pass area between Gilroy and Los Banos. The incident was reported at around 8:45 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.

An Air Force analysis noted that the object's appearance and behavior matched what would be expected from a large meteor entering the atmosphere and breaking apart. The file indicates that the official evaluation of the sighting was "probably astronomical" in nature, though the OCR text in some sections is too degraded to read with complete certainty. The full case file, comprising seven pages, is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.