University City, MissouriDecember 1954

Unidentified

Summary

On a December night in 1954, a person in University City, Missouri saw an unusual object in the sky. The object appeared round and white when it moved, but turned red when it stopped. It descended quickly, like a shooting star, then halted for a few seconds before rising again and disappearing from sight.

The observation lasted about ten seconds. The object moved from north to vertical, covering ground fast. Based on the limited details available, the Air Force investigated whether it might have been a meteor, an aircraft, or some other phenomenon.

The Air Force concluded that the object was most likely a meteor, with the witness's impression of the object stopping and rising again attributed to optical illusion. No photographs or radar data were collected during the sighting.

The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, across 8 scanned pages.

Reported location

University City, Missouri

Date of incident

December 1954

State / country

MO / US

Page count

8 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 22

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 8

View transcribed text

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i PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD
1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
fo 10 Doacemher 1908), ims verstity Cite 1 samuri 0 Was Bolloon
# 4 Hi i - 7 D5 J ‘£33 gt ’, pL Lg BILOO :
E 4 y 0 Probobly Bolicon
3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION 0. SeUmMy RUIRey |
E Vi p 0 Wos Aircraft
| Local ip ai nis rr B) Ground- Visual 0 Ground-Rador 00 Probably Airerofs
i GMT 0/02037, (NN) 0 Air-Visuai 0 Air-intercapt Radar 0 Possibly Aircraft
a s PHOTOS 8. SOURCE tI Was Astronomical 0 0/00
* Yes 00 Probobly Astronomical
B a No Civilian 0 Possibly Astronomical
© 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION I'8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE Be
3 0 Insufficiant Dota for Evaluation
- Ee Pa \ (Baath ea 0 Unknown
E 10 Seconds L from N to Vert
BE dE ad i en A ec cian
2. DRIEP SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS
: ound, White when moving , red when stopped, Evalusted as meteor with stopping and
: sound, Object came down like shooting rising as illusion.
& star, moving very fast, stopped for a few
BE <cconds then moved up and out of sight.
i % -
¢
3
A'WIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28960706