Project Blue Book Case #3401. On January 26, 1955, a bright object was observed over Lakeland, Florida — a city in the citrus belt of central Florida between Tampa and Orlando. Lakeland's position in the flat interior of the Florida peninsula provided wide-open skies and clear subtropical conditions.
MacDill AFB in Tampa and Patrick AFB (now Cape Canaveral Space Force Station) on the coast were the nearest military installations. The growing missile testing program at Cape Canaveral was beginning to add new types of objects to Florida's skies.
The case was classified "Unknown."