Initial Report of Investigation of Unidentified Flying Object — 1 January 1965

This document is an official Air Force investigation report regarding a UFO sighting that occurred in Norfolk, Virginia, on 1 January 1965. The witness, a patrolman with the Norfolk Police Department, observed seven or eight bright, round, white lights in a single-file formation while standing near a hamburger stand on Granby Street. The objects were estimated to be between 3,000 and 6,000 feet in altitude and moved in a straight, level path from south to north. The entire event lasted only two to three seconds, during which a larger object appeared to 'shoot ahead' of the others before the formation disappeared. The report notes that the witness only came forward after hearing news reports about radar-tracked UFOs at Patuxent River Naval Air Station in late December 1964. Military investigators conducted a thorough check of local radar sites, including the Oceana Naval Air Station, and found no unusual activity. The FAA also confirmed no air traffic was under their control in the area at the time. Meteorological data provided by the Fleet Weather Facility and the Norfolk Weather Bureau identified a temperature inversion between 1,500 and 1,850 feet. Based on this, the official conclusion reached by First Lieutenant Robert R. Dockum was that the sighting was likely caused by ground lights reflecting off the atmospheric inversion layer. No physical evidence was found, and no interception was attempted due to the one-day delay in the report reaching the Navy.