Wallingford, KYSeptember 1959

On September 7, 1959, at 0230 (2:30 a.m.), a man in Wallingford, Kentucky, reported seeing an unusual object in the sky. The object was roughly 30 to 40 feet in diameter and 15 to 20 feet deep, and it gave off a glowing phosphorescent light. It hovered about 40 to 50 feet above the ground near State Highway 559. The witness said the light was soft enough that it did not bother his eyes, and he compared it to the faint glow from a radium dial on a watch or clock. Trees 150 feet away were visible in the object's light.

The witness watched the object for about 30 seconds to one minute. Then, he reported, a burst of deep blue fire shot downward from the bottom of the object. The object rose straight up at a tremendous speed to a height of 400 to 500 feet. The flame went out, and the object moved horizontally to the east and disappeared from view.

Investigators from the U.S. Air Force and the Federal Bureau of Investigation quickly examined the landing site. They found a burned ring in the ground approximately 8 inches wide around a circle about 12 feet across. The circle was nearly perfect despite being on a slight slope. The soil in the area smelled of a fuel product similar to kerosene. No foreign objects were found at the site, though about 150 people had visited the area before the investigation began.

The Air Force file suggests the residue of kerosene in the burned ring pointed to a hoax, though the investigation documents offer no final proof of that conclusion. The file itself lists the evaluation as unknown.

The full case file, held by the National Archives, is reproduced below in 18 scanned pages.