Trenton, New JerseyAugust 1955

Insufficient Data

Summary

On August 31, 1955, at about 0120Z, civilian and military observers reported an object over Trenton, New Jersey. The report came through Ground Observer Corps channels.

The witnesses described one round, amber object about the size of a basketball held at arm's length. It moved on a nearly stationary, straight-line course and was watched for about 15 minutes before it faded out.

The Air Force concluded the object was possibly a balloon. Officers noted that the long duration of the sighting and the almost stationary course supported a balloon.

The file also includes a magazine-style article about a separate color photograph of an object taken by a civilian in late August 1955. That article describes a blue-white dot that showed a disc shape when magnified, and it argues the object was not a meteor. This material reflects the writer's opinions, not the Air Force's conclusion.

Reported location

Trenton, New Jersey

Date of incident

August 1955

State / country

NJ / US

Page count

3 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 23

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 3

View transcribed text

| ; g
\ i Ne « "... |2 LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
3s fab JS " i
: {tioptte Trenton, New Jersey g Probably Balloon
| 3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION FOSEENy SoIeon
: LOH iain daisies & Ground- Visual O Ground-Roadar 5 a
; robably Aircraft
CMT 01/01202 Sep 56 O AirVisuval O Air-Intercept Radar | 3 Possibly Airerofr
5. PHOTOS 8. SOURCE O Was Astronomical
i CO Yes O Probably Astronomical
: i p 4 No | Civilian and Mil. (aoc) O Possibly Astronomical
~ B  |7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE cl SEE
4 : O Insufficient Data for Evaluation
| | Fifteen (15) Mimtes | One (1) | Straight line |° Uno
~  |10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS
i Cne (1), round, amber, object, the size of a | Received by AF Form 112, Possibly
1 basketball held at arms length seen for a per-/ balloon. Curation of sighting, and the
] iod of 15 minutes. Faded out. almost stationary course substantiate
4 | | the above theory. |
] ( Mo eH4S€ )4 Free
| AISOP Form 5 (15 Oct 54) i SHER
1 2 1 : |

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28963302