Report of Sighting of Unidentified Flying Object (UFOB) — O'Fallon, Illinois, 5 December 1957

This document is a formal record of an Unidentified Flying Object (UFOB) sighting that occurred on 5 December 1957, near O'Fallon, Illinois. The report was compiled by the 1405th Air Base Wing at Scott Air Force Base and forwarded to the Air Defense Command and the Air Technical Intelligence Center. The primary witnesses, a housewife and an Air Policeman, were traveling in an automobile on State Route 43, north of Lebanon, Illinois, when they observed the object. They described the object as having the shape of an unsharpened pencil, approximately 10 feet long and 4 inches wide, with a blue-white color. The object was observed in a vertical descent for a duration of three seconds. It was described as a solid bar of light emitting sparks, with three smaller parts appearing to break off and burn for approximately one second before the main object appeared to burn out. The weather conditions at the time were reported as clear, cold, and frosty with a slight thin overcast. The observers were reportedly so affected by the sighting that they turned their vehicle around to return to the location, though they did not conduct a foot search of the area. Military authorities confirmed that no local aircraft were flying in the area at the time, and no radar units or control tower attendants reported any sightings. The official conclusion provided in the report is that the information is inconsistent, but the object could possibly be a meteor. The document includes a detailed breakdown of wind-aloft conditions and the specific location of the observers.