UFO Observation Report — Jefferson City, Missouri, April 17, 1967

This document details a UFO sighting reported on April 17, 1967, in the vicinity of the Jefferson City Memorial Airport in Missouri. Two civilian witnesses, both described as reliable citizens with professional backgrounds, reported observing a flat, circular object at an extremely low altitude for approximately 28 to 45 minutes. The witnesses initially described the object as having a dominating orange color with intermittent red and blue lights, though later reports characterized it as having a bluish-white metallic glisten. The observers reported that the object moved in a straight course before smaller vehicles appeared to drop from beneath the larger craft. The sighting caused significant distress to the witnesses, who were initially frightened by the object's proximity and the lights shining down on their vehicle. The Air Force conducted an investigation, involving the Aerial Phenomena Office and the 351st Strategic Missile Wing. While the preparing officer, 2Lt S. T. Martin, Jr., acknowledged that the witnesses were conscientious, he suggested that the description of the object's details might have been exaggerated due to the witnesses' emotional state. The official conclusion reached by the project was that the sighting was likely the star Sirius, which was positioned at an azimuth of 24 degrees and an elevation of 7 degrees at the time. The file includes extensive correspondence between the Air Force, the Jefferson City Police Department, and the Missouri State Highway Patrol, as the military sought to determine if other reports of the object had been made in the area. Local police eventually suggested that a possible cause for similar reports in the region might have been children placing light-emitting substances into plastic dry-cleaning bags, which would then float into the air. The document also contains internal routing slips and requests for further information from the witnesses, who were reluctant to have their names associated with UFO reports.