Walnut Ridge AFS, ArkansasMarch 1958

On March 21, 1958, military radar at Walnut Ridge Air Force Station in Arkansas detected an unidentified object at a very high altitude traveling at an extremely fast speed. The radar showed the object at approximately 64,000 feet and moving at roughly 1,300 knots (about 1,500 miles per hour). The target remained visible on radar for about six minutes before passing out of range.

A senior director at the base, Lieutenant Rodney G. Haworth, provided the primary account of the observation. The radar operator was tracking the object on the FPS-6 ground radar system when the target appeared. According to the case file, the object's position, bearing, and altitude were recorded multiple times during the brief window when it was detectable.

The Air Force evaluated this sighting and concluded it was "probably balloon" in nature. The evaluation appears straightforward: the radar blip and its characteristics were consistent with a high-altitude balloon carried by upper-level winds, even though the speed and altitude seemed noteworthy to those who initially tracked it. The file offers no indication of any ground-visual sightings to corroborate the radar detection, making the evaluation depend entirely on the radar data and the military's assessment of what could explain such readings.

This case file is part of Project Blue Book, the U.S. Air Force's official 22-year UFO investigation program, and is held in the National Archives. The full file contains 26 pages of scanned documents from microfilm T1206, Roll 32.