The Glowing 'Coke Bottle' That Crossed Kadena Four Times

S/Sgt Hugh T. O'Connor and S/Sgt Hillis D. Bridgman of the 13th Communications Squadron were on the veranda between the two wings of barracks 110 at Kadena Air Base. It was about 20:00 on 20 September 1957. The object was oval with indented sides, "like a coke bottle without a top", and a little bigger than a grapefruit held at arm's length. It glowed bright white like a fluorescent light. It seemed to vibrate and looked translucent, like a jellyfish. It crossed from north to south and was in view for five to ten seconds. Then it came back. It made four passes in all, about five minutes apart, though only four minutes went by before the last. The final pass went directly overhead and climbed into the overcast. A third sergeant, Thomas M. Gilligan, glimpsed it for a second or two, like a shooting star. There was no sound.

What is on the record

In Project Blue Book the case is Unknown #4959. The observers insisted the object had nothing to do with the rotating local beacon. There was no air traffic. The intelligence officer of the 313th Air Division could determine no known cause, given the number of passes and their regularity. The record card notes that a kite or a balloon was considered, and its conclusion is still Unidentified.

The file spells the second sergeant's name Bridgman, while Berliner's list of Blue Book Unknowns has Bridgeman. NICAP, Hatch, Johnson and Overmeire also list the case.

Why it sits where it does

L4 · OFFICIAL RECORD — a released government record names who saw it. Two men watched all four passes, O'Connor and Bridgman; Gilligan saw it only briefly. Their reports are the only ones the archive holds. The level speaks to sourcing alone. What crossed the barracks four times is not resolved here.