2 1/2 mi N of Troy, OhioJanuary 1961

Unidentified

Summary

On January 17, 1961, a witness near Troy, Ohio reported seeing a light that moved across the night sky in an unusual pattern. The object came from the north, traveled south, then reversed direction and moved northeast. It returned about halfway along its path before it exploded. The witness heard no sound from the object.

The witness described the light as resembling lightning with no color, though he noted it must have been some light color for him to see it. The object gave the appearance of jet exhaust but moved much faster than any aircraft he knew of. The witness reported that the object disappeared and then reappeared before finally exploding.

Air Force investigators attempted to contact the witness for more details but were unsuccessful. In their analysis, they noted that while the reported explosion and disappearance might suggest a meteorite (a space rock burning up in the atmosphere), the other information was too vague and general to support a firm conclusion. The Air Force lacked details like the object's elevation angle, its estimated distance, or its speed. Because of these gaps in the data, the case was categorized as unidentified.

The full case file, consisting of 9 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.

Reported location

2 1/2 mi N of Troy, Ohio

Date of incident

January 1961

State / country

OH / US

Page count

9 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 41

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 9

View transcribed text

i - :
, PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD
] 1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
i O Wos Balloon
: 17 Jan 61 2 1/2 mi N of Troy, Ohio 5 Py Seven
' | 3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION TY, Te
| [IVER 0 Fe AN SA EIN a Ground- Visual O Ground-Rodar = Probably Aircraft
GMT 1801407 0 Air Visual 0 Air-Intercept Radar DO Possibly Aireraft
5. PHOTOS . SOURCE OD Was Astronomical
a Yes D Probably Astronomical
X No | Civil O Possibly Astronomical |
4 i 3 F OBJECTS | 9. COURSE 0 Other
ve mow I | fh scp ’ | +28 Insofiicioms Dato for Evaluation
DO Unknown
EE TER EGER KROGER HE SRORECEIOIONREN fi TT SE [SAAR SHIR
i 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING Light traveled across 11. COMMENTSyitness reported shape of objedt
/ sky. Came from N; disappeared to S; reappeared| as that of lightning with no color. It
j traveling NE; returned about half way; then must have had some light color for him Ho
expladéd.ulNo sound. Gave appearance of jet see it. Object was reported to have dis
3 exhaust, but rmuch faster. appear, then returned and exploded.
] Elevation of object when in view was n
3 x reported. Attempts to contact witnesses
: by analyst were in vain. Although duratilon
i and explosion is characteristic of a bo
1 lide, the other information reported is
! too general to permit a valid conclusion. |
} Therefore, this report is categorized ac
: Insufficient Data,
3 ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)
¢ ; /
: ; : .
Ee Mahe : i

/ 9

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28991115