United States, October 1957October 1957

Between October 12 and October 20, 1957, dozens of Americans reported seeing a bright, star-like object in the night sky. Over the course of nine days, the Air Force received sightings from across the country: Dayton, Ohio; Long Island, New York; Charlotte, North Carolina; Washington, D.C.; and the Pacific Northwest. The object was typically described as white or amber, larger and brighter than a normal star, and circular in shape. Most observers reported that it appeared to move slowly or remain stationary.

The sightings included multiple types of observations. Ground witnesses in several locations saw the object with the naked eye. Some used binoculars for a closer look. At least one civilian airline pilot, commanding an Eastern Airlines flight, watched the object while airborne near Charlotte, North Carolina. A military radar station at Larson Air Force Base in Washington state was unable to pick it up on radar, though operators there confirmed seeing it with their eyes. Weather conditions across the sighting area were generally clear.

One observer near New Paltz, New York, watched the object for about ten minutes as it moved slowly along an arc-shaped path, eventually disappearing behind trees. An observer at Larson Air Force Base saw the object change color multiple times, shifting from silver to light blue, golden, pink, and reddish tones before it dropped below the horizon. Another witness in Smyrna, Georgia, reported the object remained in one spot for about five minutes before fading away.

The Air Force investigated by collecting detailed witness statements and weather data. Several officers noted the object's behavior and appearance reminded them of known celestial objects. In one case, the ground controller at Charlotte noted that normal airline traffic was in the area at the time. One intelligence officer suggested the sightings might have been a weather balloon released from nearby Idlewild Airport in New York, though investigators concluded the balloon would not have been in the correct location to match the sightings.

By the time the investigation wrapped up, the Air Force's conclusion appeared in the case file's front page: the sightings were most likely of Comet Encke, a well-known periodic comet that was visible to the naked eye in October 1957. The comet's distinctive bright head and tail, combined with its slow movement across the sky and color changes as it neared the sun, matched many of the witness descriptions. An attached newspaper clipping from an astronomy column explained that Encke's comet had been observed at Flagstaff Observatory and was known for unusual features, including an oddly displaced coma (the haze surrounding a comet's head) relative to its tail. The full case file, comprising 29 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.