Unidentified Flying Objects Report - Scott AFB, Illinois - 7 October 1953

On 7 October 1953, at approximately 2100Z, a circular, milky-white object resembling a bright star was observed by personnel at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois. The witnesses, identified as a Flight Commander and a pilot from the 85th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, observed the object for approximately five minutes. The object was initially stationary at an estimated 70-degree angle from the ground for three to four minutes before moving in a north-northwest direction and eventually fading from view. The witnesses noted that the object appeared to have a vapor trail, similar to those left by a B-47 aircraft flying at an altitude of 45,000 feet. The weather conditions at the time were reported as scattered clouds with a slight breeze. The intelligence officer, 2nd Lieutenant Carl D. Allen, noted that while a weather balloon had been released from Scott AFB at approximately the same time as the sighting, the pilots involved maintained a firm belief that the object they observed was not a weather balloon. The report was formally submitted by Captain James E. Carberry Jr. to the Air Technical Intelligence Center at Wright-Patterson AFB on 8 October 1953. The official conclusion provided in the documentation is that the object was a balloon, though the report acknowledges the discrepancy between this conclusion and the witnesses' observations.