Van Nuys, CaliforniaMay 1955

Unidentified

Summary

On May 19, 1955, a civilian observer in Van Nuys, California, reported seeing a single silver object with a delta wing shape (triangular, like the nose cone of a rocket). The object appeared to roll as it flew at very high speed and altitude, then disappeared from sight in less than five minutes.

An Air Force investigator interviewed the witness to determine the object's nature. The investigator found the witness's reliability to be poor, and noted that the witness was uncertain about the delta wing shape. After reviewing the available evidence, the investigating authority concluded the object was a conventional jet aircraft.

The Air Force classified this sighting as unidentified. The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, spanning 8 pages.

Reported location

Van Nuys, California

Date of incident

May 1955

State / country

CA / US

Page count

8 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 23

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 8

View transcribed text

aid SES AS E ARRPIR sto very MRE Rw 5. dog ART | FIT Sg EUR —————— » El ROE ERR PEARY To ae = .
J A

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3 ! iy PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD
EEL SR OR, Ra OBR SB O00 OHNE SFR mA A LAYTON IR BIR RHR GS Riis |
] 1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
; a i : 3 00 Wos Bolloon
3 3 May 2960 op Van Nuys, California ~ |O Probably Balleon
y 3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION | Possibly Galleon |
E 6 5% RV ¢ 00 Woes Aircraft
i Local FL A HG round- Visual 0) Ground-Radar Q Probably Aircraft

i LE hea Ah SRA | 0 AirVisual O Air-Intercept Radar AX Possibly Aircroft

5. PHOTOS 6. SOURCE 0 Wes Astronomical

i ; 0 Yes 0 Probably Astronomical

: XX No Civilian 0 Possibly Astronomical
I 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION | 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE |O, Other ______ __ in

3 4 O Insufficient Data for Evaluation

x Pr g i (@)] U 1

I 4 or 5 minutes one | north Holgi

I 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING i COMMENTS oa :

1 Extreme delta, Silver. Seemed to roll Possible a/c,

! while in flight, High speed, Rolled

out of sight,.

; ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)

| b
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/ 8

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28962140