20 Mi S of Portland, MaineDecember 1957

Insufficient Data

Summary

On December 8, 1957, a B-47 crew about 20 miles south of Portland, Maine reported a small object somewhat similar to a star. The crew was flying at 35,000 feet. The object held an unvarying heading. The Air Force recorded the case under Project 10073, its official record for unidentified flying object reports. The card notes that the time, appearance, and bearings indicated the object was Sputnik, the Soviet satellite.

Reported location

20 Mi S of Portland, Maine

Date of incident

December 1957

State / country

ME / US

Page count

6 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 31

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 6

View transcribed text

Ar SI RN A Prasat Sas (ote (1 ATA TS TEINS 2% THEI ER y — hate i Samy 1 Bey Suse _rey SEN FT CPE) gps ov ps —
PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD %
1. DATE a 2. LOCATION 12." CONCLUSIONS
0 Was Bolloon
S 20 Mi S of Portland, Maine O Probably Balloon
3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION 0 Possibly Ballean
Local pag § {Se SS O Ground- Visuol 0 Ground-Radar 0 hi Bod Ly SN
our 10711302 XX Air Visual O Air-Intercept Radar | 2 Possibly Aircraft
5S. PHOTOS . R 0O Was Astronomical
O Yes O Probably Astronomical
No B-47 Crew OD Possibly Astronomical
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE BX omer Sputnik :
BD Insufficient Date for Evaluation
approx 4 minutes one NW to SE 8 Unknown
10. BRIE SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 1). COMMENTS ¢
~~ B=47 crew sighted a small object Time, appearance, bearings etc,,
| somewhat similar to a star, while indicate that the object was
flying at 35,000 feet, Object was Sputnik - the Soviet satellite,
on an unvarying heading of about Check with orbital tracks and oe
170 dgrs. Did not appear to gain Smithsonian Astrophysical 5
or lose altitude, Observatory confirmed this |
assumption,
ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 32) %
. . A .
RR AR RR diss Ss Sn J joi

/ 6

Use ← → keys to navigate · scans hosted by the U.S. National Archives

Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28975974