W Los Angeles, CaliforniaNovember 1957

On the night of November 12, 1957, a resident of West Los Angeles reported seeing a bright, round white object in the sky. The witness watched the light for about 85 minutes as it slowly descended toward the horizon, visible at an angle of around 350 degrees (roughly north-northwest). The object appeared roughly 20 times larger than aircraft landing lights and had a faint corona, or glow, around it. The light moved in 15-minute intervals before sinking below the tree line.

A second sighting the same night, reported by a 16-year-old student in Hollywood, described a round bright white object about the size of a pea. This observer watched for five minutes as the object traveled from northwest to southeast before disappearing from sight. Weather conditions that night were clear, with winds from the northwest.

Air Force investigators considered several explanations. The operations officer noted that winds were from the northwest, which matched the direction weather balloons typically travel and which were generally released around 6 p.m. A senior director from the Air Force intelligence center suggested the object was probably Venus, the planet, though he acknowledged that Venus appears as a dull orange color and that the sighting could possibly have been a bright wing light from an aircraft holding a steady position. The file notes that the first sighting included insufficient motion data to confirm any explanation.

The Air Force evaluated the case as "unknown" in its official determination. The complete case file, comprising 9 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.