Washington DC, August 1959August 1959

A pilot at Bolling Air Force Base in Washington, D.C., and five other witnesses watched a white light cross the night sky on August 2, 1959. The sighting lasted seven minutes. The object at first moved rapidly in a straight line from northeast to southwest, blinking irregularly as it went. Then it stopped suddenly and began to behave in ways the observers found puzzling. It moved rapidly in circles and made darting motions. Finally it faded toward the southwest, dimming gradually as though it were climbing away.

The pilot seemed sober and reliable to the officers who interviewed him. He and his companions were emphatic that the object was not an ordinary aircraft. The rate of speed and the complete absence of engine noise ruled out a helicopter, in their judgment. The night was clear and starlit with good visibility. Weather service wind readings showed calm conditions at the surface.

The Air Force followed up quickly. Air Defense Identification, the agency responsible for tracking aircraft and unusual radar contacts near the nation's capital, reported no unusual radar tracks in the area. Andrews Air Force Base had no helicopters airborne that night. Bolling tower operators did not see the object. In November 1959, investigators asked the pilot and his companions to describe the sighting again, hoping for more detail. The pilot was reinterrogated but reported he was unable to add anything to his original account.

The project record card noted insufficient data for proper evaluation. The Air Force's final conclusion does not appear clearly in the surviving file pages. The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, consisting of 7 pages.