Air intelligence teams in the Bering Strait log unexplained lights toward Soviet territory
October 1953 – December 1, 1953 · Little Diomede and St. Lawrence Island, Alaska · Sighting · Primary document linked
Two reports from the Air Force's 5004th Air Intelligence Service Squadron describe lights seen toward Soviet waters. In October 1953 a young Little Diomede resident, who had been watching Big Diomede Island each night on his own initiative, saw a light like a large flashlight or spotlight for several seconds on the island's southern tip, where people had never been seen and which is hard to reach at night. On 1 December 1953 an Alaska National Guard sergeant at Gambell, St. Lawrence Island, saw a steady light on the western horizon at a bearing of 283 degrees; it went out at 11:15Z 'as though someone had turned it off'. No other villagers had seen it, and no land lies on that bearing.
Era: Project Blue Book · Threads: Intelligence and the FBI
Why it matters (2/5)
Two routine Air Force intelligence reports of lights toward Soviet territory; no follow-up.
Caveats
These are lights, not described objects. The preparing officers suggested a signal toward the Alaskan mainland (with no evidence) for the first, and a ship of unknown identity at sea for the second. The first report gives two different dates in October.
Sources
- Air Intelligence Information Report Alaska 1953 (DOW-UAP-D161) (U.S. Department of War), primary
- Air Intelligence Information Report Alaska 1953 (DOW-UAP-D162) (U.S. Department of War), primary