150 Mi WNW of Ukiah, CaliforniaSeptember 1961

Insufficient Data

Summary

On September 26, 1961, at about 0725Z (Greenwich time), at night, a military aircrew aboard an RC-121 reported an object about 150 miles west-northwest of Ukiah, California. The report was filed on the Project 10073 record card, the Air Force's official record for unidentified flying object reports.

The object was described as a long, bright bluish-green streak with bright white edges, with no distinct solid object. There was a single object. It produced a sudden extreme brightness that lit up the cockpit interior, seen at about 60 degrees elevation, with a very rapid fadeout. The sighting lasted about 3 seconds. The sky was clear with bright moonlight. The crew, all considered reliable, said it was much brighter than a meteorite.

The Air Force concluded the object was probably astronomical, noting it had the characteristics of a meteor, with a note about possible re-entry.

Reported location

150 Mi WNW of Ukiah, California

Date of incident

September 1961

State / country

CA / US

Page count

3 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 44

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 3

View transcribed text

: A :
PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD |
1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
q ro Ss ty TE UE TAT a Theda) Nations | Was Balloon
1 5 Sep £1 150 Mi WNW of Ukiah, California O Probably Balloon
E 3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION Ri. GERM Sodan
BT EE el Aa O Ground- Visual 0 Ground-Radar a ie Ld
4 GMT 2607257 EB Air Vial a Air-Intsrcept Radar DO Possibly Aircraft
: 5. PHOTOS 4. SOURCE 0. Was Astronomical Merced,
be 0 Yes JX Probably Astronomical
E O No ML Fe aaar O Possibly Astronomical
3 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE ERT Ee TR |
H O Insufficient Data for Evaluation
E A ao Unknown
E 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING cresn-blulsh strea COMMENTS ~,-15 nz 1. cosyachorichi- of
: ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP $2)
3 -

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28994869