Project 10073 Record Card: Sighting of 27 April 1958

On April 27, 1958, at 0953Z, three crew members aboard an AEW&C RC-121 aircraft observed an unidentified object off the coast of California. The witnesses, including the aircraft commander, navigator, and instrument engineer, described the object as a bright orange-red ball that fanned out in a manner similar to a jet afterburner. The object was observed traveling straight and level in the same direction as the RC-121 before it became smaller and disappeared. The duration of the sighting was approximately one and a half minutes. The object was not detected by the aircraft's radar, and a subsequent check with land-based ground sites confirmed that no known aircraft were operating in the vicinity at the time of the incident. The weather conditions at the time included broken cloud decks at 3,000 and 14,000 feet with stratocumulus clouds. The intelligence officer, 1/Lt. James J. Hayes, noted that while the pilot conceded the object might have been an afterburner, the lack of radar contact and the absence of known traffic warranted further investigation. The final conclusion provided by the Air Technical Intelligence Center suggested that the description and characteristics of the object were consistent with a jet aircraft operating with its afterburner engaged. The report was formally approved by Major Lucius Besse, Jr., Director of Intelligence for the 552nd AEW&C Wing.