DOW-UAP-D161: Air Intelligence Information Report - A Light on the Southern Tip of Big Diomede, Bering Strait, 1953

Source file: DOW-UAP-D161-Air_Intelligence_Information_Report_Alaska-1953.pdf Originating agency: United States Air Force (USAF), 5004th Air Intelligence Service Squadron, APO 942, c/o PM, Seattle Document type: Air Intelligence Information Report, AF Form 112, Parts I and II, with a sketch inclosure; Report No. IR 5004-40-53 Date: 24 November 1953 (date of report); date of information 8 October 1953; the body says the report was made on 6 October 1953 Classification: CONFIDENTIAL and SECURITY INFORMATION (lined through); stamped DECLASSIFIED, Authority NND 57597; publicly released in 2026 Page count: 4 VIRIN: 260508-D-D0360-1153 PURSUE Release: 7

Summary

According to the report's own sketch, 2.5 miles of water separate the American island of Little Diomede from the Soviet island of Big Diomede. In the autumn of 1953 this was the closest point of contact between the two superpowers, and the Air Force had a man of the 5004th Air Intelligence Service Squadron on Little Diomede. This report grew out of what that man, Roy N. Fowler, was told by a 14-year-old island resident, an elementary school student and hunter, about a light he had briefly seen on the southern tip of Big Diomede.

This is not a report of a flying object. There is no motion, no shape and no flight altitude; there is a stationary light lasting a few seconds, in a place where, the report says, people had never been seen. The question it asks is essentially an intelligence one: who was there, at night, and why?

The report was prepared by Major Francis M. Brown, and the summary sheet is signed by the squadron commander, Major Richard E. Loomis. It went to eleven addressees and includes, as Inclosure 1, a sketch of the two islands and the line of sight.

Research Article

The witness and his vantage point

Part II of the form opens with a "Description of Source": a 14-year-old, "Elementary Student and Hunter," born on Little Diomede. Under "Reliability of Source" comes the most interesting detail in the report: "Every night during the week preceding the report he had maintained a watch on Big Diomede on his own initiative." Fowler judged the source "fairly reliable" and the sighting "possibly true," adding that the witness was in good health and "has excellent eyesight." That judgment translates directly into the C-3 evaluation at the head of the form.

According to the report of sighting, the witness was standing "in the center of Little Diomede Village" and had been looking towards Big Diomede for about fifteen minutes before the light appeared.

The light

The light was seen "on the southern tip of Big Diomede Island at an estimated height of 95 feet above sea level." The witness saw it from the moment it appeared until it disappeared, and the observation lasted "several seconds." The description is spare and practical: "the size of a nickel coin held at arms length and about the same color as a burning match or dim flashlight." In the witness's opinion the light came "from a large flashlight or spotlight."

What the witness did next gives the report its time anchor: as soon as the light vanished, he ran to his house, about 25 yards away, and checked the time, "which was 1030Z." He then went back to his position and kept watching, "however, the light did not reappear."

Weather: "The night was dark but with no overcast, stars were clearly visible. Big Diomede Island was plainly outlined against the sky." The wind was from the north at about five miles per hour.

The sketch

Inclosure 1, "Sketch of Observation," is the fourth page of the file. It shows Little Diomede on the left and Big Diomede on the right, with an arrow from "LITTLE DIOMEDE VILLAGE" (at "25' ELEV.") to the "POINT WHERE LIGHT WAS OBSERVED," marked with an asterisk at "APPROX. 95' ELEV." The arrow is labelled "2.5 MILES" and "213° MAG." (a magnetic bearing), and the margin reads "SEEN WITH THE NAKED EYE." A north arrow is also drawn.

The officer's reading: a signal to the Alaskan coast?

The preparing officer's comments explain why so brief a report found its way onto an intelligence form: "The location of the light is considered somewhat unusual because people have never been observed on that part of Big Diomede Island and because of the difficulty in reaching the location, particularly at night."

Brown then offers a hypothesis: if anyone on Big Diomede wanted to signal the Alaskan mainland, the southern tip would be the best place, since from there the Alaskan coast from Wales to approximately Tin City could be seen in good visibility. But he qualifies it at once: "This stated only to mention the possibility however slight it may be. There is no evidence to support a conclusion that this was the purpose of the light."

Inconsistent dates and times

The report is not consistent about when the sighting happened. The summary sheet gives "approximately 081015Z," that is, 8 October at 10:15 Greenwich time, and the "date of information" field reads 8 October 1953. On page 2 the time is "081025Z," and the time the witness checked at home is 1030Z. Yet the same page states: "This report was made on 6 October 1953," a date earlier than the sighting according to the date-time group. The official description and the catalogue date follow 6 October; the document itself does not allow a decision. In addition, about seven weeks passed between the October dates and the report date of 24 November.

Significance

The report is more interesting as a record of Cold War border watching than as a UFO report. It shows how a brief flashlight-like gleam, seen by a boy who had decided on his own to keep watch on the neighbouring island, became a classified intelligence report distributed to Air Force, Army and Navy commands in Alaska and the Pacific. The C-3 rating and the officer's cautious comments reflect its evidential weight exactly: one witness, a few seconds' observation, no optical aids, and an open question that, as far as the document shows, nobody tried to pursue further. The document has a sibling in the collection, DOW-UAP-D162, a report from the same year on a stationary light seen in December 1953 from St. Lawrence Island, west of Gambell; together the two record American intelligence's sensitivity to any light on the Soviet side of the Bering Strait.

Key People

Locations

Incidents

Notable Quotes

"The light appeared as though it came from a large flashlight or spotlight and lasted for a period of several seconds." -- page 1

"The sighting is unusual because persons have not been seen previously in that location and because it is believed to be a difficult place to reach, particularly at night." -- page 1

"Every night during the week preceding the report he had maintained a watch on Big Diomede on his own initiative." -- page 2

"The light was described as being the size of a nickel coin held at arms length and about the same color as a burning match or dim flashlight." -- page 2

"After checking the time he went back to his original position and continued to watch the area the light came from, however, the light did not reappear." -- page 2

"The night was dark but with no overcast, stars were clearly visible. Big Diomede Island was plainly outlined against the sky." -- page 2

"This stated only to mention the possibility however slight it may be. There is no evidence to support a conclusion that this was the purpose of the light." -- page 3