Wayne, MichiganNovember 1957

On the late afternoon of November 26, 1957, the U.S. Air Force picked up a damaged object in Wayne, Michigan. According to the case file, it had fallen from the sky the night before, on November 25. The object was badly damaged but had originally been shaped like a flattened sphere. It measured eight feet in diameter and was two feet thick.

When inspectors examined the device, they found it was made of simple materials. One surface was covered in metal foil, while the other consisted of cloth and paper. Inside, a framework of quarter-inch square balsa wood provided the structure. Thin rubber sheeting was attached to internal components, suggesting the device was designed to float as a balloon. All the pieces were held together with glue, Scotch tape, straight pins, and medical adhesive tape.

The Air Force treated the object as a probable hoax. A night janitor at the facility where it was kept considered it trash and destroyed it before a full analysis could be completed. However, photographs of the metal foil surface were taken and transmitted to Air Force intelligence. One internal Air Force message noted that if the object was confirmed as a hoax, it "may be public relation opportunity to discount recent rash UFOB reports," referring to the wave of UFO sightings occurring in late 1957.

The official Air Force evaluation listed the case as "unknown," though the evidence pointed strongly toward a homemade balloon. The full case file, comprising 10 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.