Walkill, New YorkJanuary 1956

On the night of January 17 or 18, 1956, a warehouse employee at Stewart Air Force Base near Walkill, New York, spotted what looked like a very bright star in the northwest sky. The man was 42 years old and had formerly served as a sergeant at another Air Force base in Newburgh, New York. He watched the object for about 15 minutes as it occasionally twinkled and moved across the sky.

The witness reported that the object moved toward the northwest and eventually sank below the horizon. He also noted that it seemed to have a capability similar to a helicopter's movement, with side-to-side motion in addition to its main path across the sky. The observation repeated on two succeeding nights under similar conditions.

Air Force investigators looked closely at the weather conditions at the time, noting clear skies and scattered clouds at 7,000 feet. They checked for military aircraft in the area and found two F-86D jets, though they considered it unlikely these accounted for the sighting. They also noted the positions and brightness of nearby stars, particularly the star Vega, which was located to the northwest at the time of the sighting.

The Air Force concluded the sighting was most likely the star Vega. They attributed the apparent motion and twinkling to weather conditions distorting how the star appeared to the observer. The case file lists the evaluation as "Probably Balloon," though the detailed investigation points toward an astronomical explanation. The full case file, comprising 7 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.