Report of Sighting of Unidentified Flying Object (UFOB) — Scott Air Force Base, 25 November 1957

This document is a formal report of an Unidentified Flying Object (UFOB) sighting that occurred on 25 November 1957 at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois. The report was compiled by the 1405th Air Base Wing and submitted to the Air Defense Command in accordance with Air Force Regulation 200-2. The sighting involved approximately 40 airmen, including A/3C Ronald W. Rioux, A/3C Gareth L. Colay, and their instructor, A/1C Meeks, who were walking to class at the south end of Building T-3-189 in Area 3. The witnesses described a round, reddish-orange object, estimated to be the size of a golf ball to a tennis ball. The object was observed for six to eight minutes, moving in an easterly direction until it was overhead, at which point it performed a large 'U' turn and returned to the west. The weather conditions were reported as clear with unlimited visibility. No radar contact was made, and no local aircraft were flying at the time. Lt Colonel Bernard P. Whitehouse, the Wing Operations Officer, noted that there were no sightings by radar units or control tower attendants. A handwritten note on the report suggests that a check of balloon schedules revealed that balloons are released at 1900 local time, and that given the wind velocities, the object would not have moved far until reaching a high altitude. The final conclusion reached by the reporting officers was that the object was 'probably an a/c sighting' and that the observers 'no doubt saw a balloon with lights.'