Unidentified Flying Object Reported on 20 September 1957

This memorandum, dated 21 September 1957 and authored by Herbert Scoville, Jr., addresses an Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) sighting reported on 20 September 1957. The object was tracked by US Air Defense Command (ADC) radars moving westward at an altitude of 50,000 feet and a speed of 2,000 knots, traveling from the eastern tip of Long Island toward the vicinity of Buffalo, with reports extending as far as Chicago. Subsequent briefings for the Intelligence Advisory Committee (IAC) indicated that the original reports were degraded by several factors, including an 11-minute break in the radar track, weather conditions known to produce false radar pips, and the presence of SAC B-47 aircraft in the Chicago area conducting electronic countermeasures (ECM) training. The memorandum explicitly states that the ADC had not completed its investigation, but concluded that the phenomena reported west of Buffalo were unrelated to the UFO. Regarding potential Soviet involvement, the document notes that there is no intelligence on Soviet activities that could be specifically linked to this event. While the agency considered the possibility of a one-way Soviet vehicle, it concluded that such an operation would have little motivation, as the psychological or retaliatory value would be marginal and the risk of compromise high. Ultimately, the memorandum concludes that it is highly improbable that a Soviet operation was responsible for the sighting. Given the incomplete nature of the ADC investigation and the likelihood that weather phenomena explain the reports, the author recommends that no IAC meeting be convened on the subject.