Unidentified Flying Object Report — Amarillo Air Force Base, Texas, November 1957

This document contains a formal Unidentified Flying Object report filed by the 688th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron at Amarillo Air Force Base, Texas, regarding an incident on November 23, 1957. The report details a sighting by an Air Policeman, A/3C R.D. Fletchall, who observed a round, glowing, white object, described as being the size of a half-dollar, at 1045Z. According to the witness, the object moved toward him before veering upward and to the right. The witness reported that the object made no sound and moved 'very fast.' The squadron's Director on Duty, 2/Lt. Richard P. Henderson, noted that due to the lack of sound and the high speed reported, it was doubtful the object was a Piper Tri-Pacer, which was known to be in the area at the time. However, the subsequent evaluation by the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) was highly skeptical of the witness's account. The ATIC comment explicitly stated that the observer was considered unreliable in his reporting of elevations, azimuths, and speeds. The ATIC concluded that the observer undoubtedly saw the Piper Tri-Pacer that was in the vicinity, and expressed confusion as to why the observer would report the sighting in the manner he did. The document also includes a separate, earlier record card for a sighting on November 9, 1957, at the same location, involving two or three red lights that appeared to be 50 feet off the ground before moving upward and toward the west. That earlier incident was also categorized as a 'probable a/c sighting.' The collection of documents serves as an example of the military's process for documenting and evaluating aerial sightings during the late 1950s, highlighting the tension between field reports and the analytical conclusions reached by intelligence agencies.