Xenia, OhioApril 1958

Insufficient Data

Summary

On April 3, 1958, a resident of Xenia, Ohio reported seeing a bright light moving rapidly across the sky. The witness described the object as clear and brilliant, resembling a bright star but much larger and moving very fast. The sighting lasted about 45 seconds. The object traveled from west to northeast before disappearing below the horizon. Four witnesses observed the event.

The Air Force's Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base responded quickly. Officials contacted the main witness by telephone on the morning of April 4 and sent her an official UFO questionnaire to complete. The witness initially was reluctant to provide information and preferred not to be involved publicly, but agreed to cooperate with the investigation. An interview was arranged, though the questionnaire could be submitted instead if preferred. The Air Force also checked with nearby Lockburne Air Force Base north of Columbus to see if any aircraft operations in the area might explain the sighting.

In the official record, ATIC concluded the sighting was probably a balloon, though noted it could possibly have been a balloon or possibly an aircraft. The brief observation period made aircraft identification difficult. The case file contains 14 pages of documentation, including the original report card, internal Air Force memos, and the detailed questionnaire sent to witnesses.

The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.

Reported location

Xenia, Ohio

Date of incident

April 1958

State / country

OH / US

Page count

14 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 32

‘ i & i : PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD ; i 1 DATE 2. LOCATION 112. CONCLUSIONS : = i - ; lg Woes Balicon 7 3 Apr 58 | Xenia. Ohio t0 Probably Balloon 3 Ee ee Ca er me ache eee eee ee] 3 Possibly Balloon | 3. DATE-TIME GROUP | 4 TYPE OF CBSERYATION raph st (ho : I O Was Aircraof i Eyer JAC SR AE POS FIO Wi nb 1 nara Ck Ground-Yisual 0 Greuvnd-Radar | Bp Aires 2) le. ) = a * Probably Aircraft - 04/0010 ; ; 5% Bilas br: emt 04/00107 SR PR ATH 0 Air Vicual 0 Air-Intercept Radar 0 Possibly Aircraft | E 5. PHOTOS | 6. SOURCE |B Vlas Astronomical - 0 Yes i= Probably Astranomical E £ No Civilian 0 Possibly Astronamical 3 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. MUMBER CF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE Ey 4 ODOM insect E | pa insufficient Data for Evaluation E 45 secs | one W to NE i Ene 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS FE ee Te Be 4 Bright light, clear & brilliant, like Possibly an a/c although the \ 4 a bright star, very large & nov ing very duration is rather short. i fast across the sky. Disappeared be fore 9 roing over the horizon. Flash ing white | 3 taoht i ——.. | ATIC FORM 329 (RZV 26 SEP 52) 2 3 E ee