Tucson, ArizonaJanuary 1953

Unidentified

Summary

On January 27, 1953, at about 7:34 p.m., an airman and his wife saw an object near Tucson, Arizona. The witness was a staff sergeant from a bomb wing at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.

The object was round and brilliant white, and appeared larger than the brightest star in the sky. It traveled at a high rate of speed toward the general southwest. It trailed what looked like a luminous, rocket-type exhaust. The exhaust appeared reddish white, then thinned into a flame-colored hue spaced at short intervals.

There was no propulsion or exhaust noise. The sergeant said the object faded due to distance after about one minute, moving through about 20 degrees of arc. His wife, who was nearsighted, could only observe it for about 15 seconds.

Weather was clear with about 50 miles visibility. The record notes the object had the characteristics of a meteor. The card lists the conclusion as astronomical, citing a meteor.

Reported location

Tucson, Arizona

Date of incident

January 1953

State / country

AZ / US

Page count

5 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 17

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 5

View transcribed text

y .
}
1. DATE - TIME GROUP 2. LOCATION
re T ~~ . / p . . ( |
2f Jan 53 25/02347 Tuegon, grizona
3. SOURCE 10. CONCLUSION A
Alrien and wife Astro (LITEOR)
4. NUMBER OF OBJECTS
Ons :
5. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION [1]. BRIEF SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS
2 5 Saconds § Round white object follourzd by a reddish=white Eantl travels ;
6. TYPE OF OBSERVATION a hizh rate of speed,
Ground-Vigual COLZTIITS: The described object has all the characteristics of
7. COURSE & meteor, except for a relatively loa: period of
sighting (1 min), however, observer's wife states
Southwest it was in view 15 seconds only,
8. PHOTOS :
0 Yos
7X No
19. PHYSICAL EVIDENCE
0 Yes :
I No
FORM
FTD sep 63 0-329 (TDE) Provious editions of this form may be used,

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28952847