The object was first spotted over Oneida, New York and was heading in a westerly direction. There were also reports of the object in Kansas, Colorado and Eureka, Utah. The object was the seen in the town of Reno, Nevada and was seen to 'turn' and head towards Nevada, where it disappeared over the Nellis Air Force Base. The object was also tracked at several radar sights.
The object was reported by over a thousand people, most of whom, assumed that the object was a meteorite. Various newspapers covered the story the following morning although most of them concluded also that it must have been just a very spectacular meteorite.
However, Air Defence Command, after watching the object for several hours scrambled several fighters (not something that they do for meteorites normally!).
It was claimed the object came down near Eureka, and at the same time the town experienced a total blackout. However, the object was then seen to take off again, and as it did the power came back.
The object was also seen at various times by several commercial airline pilots who reported that the object was below them, again unusual for a meteorite.
The official air force explanation was that the object witnessed was a meteor. However, this does not explain why fighters were scrambled, why the object changed course, why the object appeared to land and then take off again, why there was a blackout at Eureka.
