UFO Report — Oakridge, Eugene, and Government Camp, Oregon, 1 November 1959

This document is a Project 10073 record card and accompanying report from the 337th Fighter Group (Air Defense) regarding a civilian sighting of an unidentified flying object on November 1, 1959. Multiple observers, including state police officers and a USAF helicopter pilot, reported seeing a cigar-shaped object in the vicinity of Oakridge, Eugene, and Government Camp, Oregon. The object was described as being six to eight times as long as it was wide, positioned vertically, and featuring red lights at its extremities with a bright, possibly flashing, white light in the center. Estimates of its altitude were placed at approximately 12,000 feet. The reports regarding the object's movement were contradictory, with some observers stating it drifted north while others reported it drifting south into the mountains. The 460th Fighter Interceptor Squadron was notified, but no interception was attempted due to poor weather conditions at Portland International Airport, and radar sites in the area failed to detect any return. The official conclusion reached by the evaluating authorities was that the object was the planet Venus. This assessment was supported by the observation of the Aurora Borealis and other bright stars in the sky at the time. The report notes that the conflicting nature of the witness accounts and the inability of some individuals to locate the object suggest that the sighting was likely an optical illusion.