West of Wake Island, February 1958February 1958

A crew aboard a U.S. Air Force C-54 transport plane saw a bright, greenish-blue flash west of Wake Island on February 13, 1958. The flash was instantaneous and intense. The pilot believed the plane might have been shot at, though the light came from a flare-like explosion rather than any physical object. Two radar contacts were also recorded during the same hour as the visual sighting.

The aircraft was flying between Tokyo and Wake Island when the incident occurred. The flight engineer saw the flash directly while looking out a rear window. The light was so sudden and bright that it startled both pilots in the cockpit, even though they were separated from the flight engineer by a closed, lighted crew compartment. The navigator and radio operator were not aware of the sighting until after it happened.

Investigators found no routine military or civilian aircraft traffic in the area at the time. However, they discovered that another C-54 heading toward Wake had landed just minutes ahead of the reporting plane. The Air Force examined whether the flash might have come from a flare or photo-flash cartridge fired by that other aircraft at a lower altitude. The crew's detailed statements and radio logs were reviewed, and investigators assessed the reliability of each witness. The pilot was experienced with thousands of flight hours and familiar with flares and star shells from his time in Korea, though investigators noted his memory of the timing of events could be vague.

The case file concludes that investigators determined another aircraft at a lower altitude likely fired a flare around 0914 (9:14 a.m.) in a way that caused the sighting described. All seven pages of this case are reproduced below as held by the National Archives.