Wheelus AFB, Tripoli, Lybia, September 1958September 1958

On the night of September 1, 1958, a civilian technical representative witnessed an unusual object over Wheelus Air Force Base in Tripoli, Libya. The man, described by investigators as sober and intelligent, was on the roof of a three-story building when he spotted a bluish-white light. At first, it appeared roughly the size of a bright star. The light then grew to the size of a baseball before shrinking back to its original size and finally vanishing.

The object's behavior was erratic. It moved across the sky at wildly varying speeds, from very fast to very slow. At times it appeared to hover motionless on the horizon. The object initially appeared at high altitude, descended to between 2,700 and 2,800 feet as it passed over the observer, climbed again, and eventually disappeared into the clouds. It traveled from northwest to southeast across the sky, covering a distance of several miles.

The witness had initially wondered if the light was attached to a kite, which he had seen in the area before, but dismissed the idea when the light continued moving steadily across the horizon. No known helicopters, aircraft, weather balloons, or other equipment were reported in the area. The Ground Control Intercept station, though operating, detected no unusual activity.

Weather conditions included moonlit skies with five-tenths cloud cover and a solid overcast layer at 14,000 feet. Significantly, meteorological data showed a temperature inversion from the surface (24 degrees Celsius) up to 1,000 feet (5.8 degrees Celsius), a condition that can affect how objects appear in the sky. The file notes that a similar sighting occurred at the same time from another location about five miles away.

The Air Force's evaluation of this case appears in the file as "unknown." The complete case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, comprising 8 pages.