UFOB Index Card and Case Summary — Tarrytown, New York, August 1956

On August 9, 1956, at 12:15 AM, police in Tarrytown, New York, received a report from a civilian named Walter Kocher regarding a mysterious light in the sky. Sgt. Fin[illegible] Maegerle, a World War II pilot with a commercial license, was dispatched to investigate the report. Upon arrival, Sgt. Maegerle and two other officers confirmed the presence of the object. The witnesses described the object as a yellowish, star-like light, estimated to be five to eight times the size of the North Star. The object was observed at a very high altitude, moving in jerks in a southeasterly direction. The light remained visible until approximately 1:30 AM. The official evaluation of the incident, documented on a UFOB Index Card, rejected the initial reporting officer's suggestion that the object was a shooting star. Instead, headquarters concluded that the sighting met all the criteria for a balloon hypothesis, citing that local wind conditions correlated with the object's observed flight path. The case was filed as Case 183.