Washington, D.C., July 1954July 1954

On July 29, 1954, near Key West, Florida, the crew of the U.S. Navy tugboat USS YTB-543 witnessed a strange aerial object that left several observers puzzled.

Chief Quartermaster M. J. Brown was standing on the bridge of the tugboat with binoculars and a stopwatch, observing the Florida Reefs. While checking the location of a nearby lighthouse beacon, he suddenly noticed a brilliant pale blue object emerge from behind a large cloud bank. The object appeared egg-shaped and moved at what Brown described as incredible speed. It traveled low across the sky from southwest to northeast, remaining mostly parallel to the horizon. During its passage, Brown used his stopwatch to time the event and observed the object for approximately 5.3 seconds before it disappeared into another cloud formation. Brown also noted four cones of light extending from the object's main body, arranged at 90-degree angles to each other.

Seaman Sydney J. Martin, who was also on duty aboard the tugboat, witnessed the same phenomenon from the ship's steering station. Without optical instruments, Martin saw what he described as a huge, blimp-shaped object with a bright whitish color, moving horizontally and faster than any aircraft he knew of. He remarked that the object crossed the visible sky in less time than it would take to light a cigarette. Like Brown, Martin detected no sound from the object as it passed.

Brown, a Chief Petty Officer with over twenty years of naval service and professional familiarity with meteorology, stated that the object could not have been a meteor, meteorite, or comet, since those typically travel at angles to the horizon rather than parallel to Earth's surface.

A naval field intelligence officer in Miami interviewed both witnesses and found them reliable and credible. However, the case file does not provide the Air Force's final conclusion on what was observed. The full case file, comprising 17 pages, is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.