Waterville & Morrisville, VermontMay 1956

On the evenings of May 6 and 13, 1956, residents of Morrisville and Waterville, Vermont reported seeing unidentified objects in the sky. The sightings involved multiple witnesses who held positions with the Ground Observer Corps (GOC), a civilian network that reported aircraft to the U.S. Air Force.

On May 6, several observers at the Morrisville GOC Post reported seeing between three and six objects in the sky starting around 2000 hours (8 p.m.). The witnesses described the objects differently depending on their vantage point and equipment. One observer saw six objects, some as small as a dime and others the size of a grapefruit, with triangular shapes and small tails suspended beneath them. Another witness, looking through 6-power binoculars, described three objects positioned from north to east, roughly 70 to 75 degrees above the horizon. These objects appeared illuminated like an automobile headlight and seemed to move slowly across the sky. The observers reported no sound or exhaust trails, and some objects remained visible for up to two hours.

The May 13 sighting was similar in nature. Four objects were reported, again observed through binoculars, spread across the sky from east to west. One object reportedly moved very fast in an easterly direction. A store manager who arrived late in the evening saw two objects that he said appeared to "burst and disappear from view."

The Air Force investigation included checks with Burlington Airport control tower and the Burlington weather station. No aircraft were in the area at the time. However, investigators learned from the weather station that the prevailing winds could have carried weather balloons into the region, and no balloon releases had been reported at the time of the sightings. A check with the 764th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron revealed that several balloon projects were underway in the area, but radar track logs showed no entries matching the sighted objects.

The investigators and approving officers concluded the sightings were caused by clusters of weather balloons used in conjunction with Operation Skyhook (a high-altitude research program). They theorized that telemetering instruments (devices that transmit data by radio) attached to the balloon suspension systems could account for witnesses' reports of "gondolas" beneath the objects. The Burlington weather station had recorded similar sightings of weather balloons within the previous eight months.

The complete case file, as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below across 11 pages.