UFOB Index Card and Investigation Report — Kalispell, Montana, September 1956

This document is a comprehensive investigation report (13-UFOB-1-56) compiled by the 4602d Air Intelligence Service Squadron regarding a series of UFO sightings in Kalispell, Montana, on the night of September 3-4, 1956. The report details the testimonies of five witnesses, including GOC (Ground Observer Corps) personnel and a retired Army officer, who observed a brilliant, bowl or tear-shaped object in the south-southeastern sky for approximately seven hours. Witnesses described the object as changing color from red to green to white, possessing a fuzzy tail, and being accompanied by a cloud-like mist. The object was reported to move erratically and was observed through low-power binoculars. The report notes that the 29th Air Division scrambled five F-94C jet fighters in response to reports of a 'triangular-shaped luminous object,' but the pilots were unable to make visual or radar contact. The investigation, led by Captain Patrick O. Shere, concluded that the sightings were caused by the planet Mars, which was at a point of high brilliance during that period. The report suggests that the witnesses' perception of erratic movement was an optical illusion caused by prolonged observation of a celestial body through binoculars, exacerbated by the observers' excitement and prior discussion of the event among themselves. The document includes a letter of transmittal, individual witness statements, supplementary investigative efforts including weather data, and a final assessment by the preparing officer. The report emphasizes that no other hypothesis met the identification criteria and that the planet Mars was in the exact position reported by the observers.