20N 134E Philippine Sea, February 1961February 1961

Insufficient Data

Summary

On February 8, 1961, at 8:00 p.m. local time, a huge bright object like a shooting star was sighted from position 20N 134E in the Philippine Sea. The object appeared to travel north, falling in an east/west direction. Witnesses reported that it seemed to break into two pieces before burning up in the atmosphere. The observation was ground-visual and made by military personnel. The Air Force noted that limited information was available but indicated the sighting was probably a very bright meteor of the fireball type. The object's description of breaking into two pieces before atmospheric burnup supported this conclusion.

Reported location

20N 134E Philippine Sea, February 1961

Date of incident

February 1961

State / country

? / XX

Page count

3 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 41

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 3

View transcribed text

PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD

1. DATE | 2. LOCATION | 12. CONCLUSIONS
8 Feb 61 | 20N 134E Philippine Sea | B Was Balloon
 | | B Probably Balloon
3. DATE-TIME GROUP | 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION | D Possibly Balloon
Local 2000 | B Ground-Visual | D Ground-Radar | B Was Aircraft
GMT 1100 | D Air-Visual | D Air-Intercept | B Probably Aircraft
 | | | D Possibly Aircraft
5. PHOTOS | 6. SOURCE | B Was Astronomical Metec
B Yes | Military | B Probably Astronomical
B No | | D Possibly Astronomical
 | | D Insufficient Data for Evaluation
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION | 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE | D Unknown
 | | B
10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING | 11. COMMENTS
Huge bright objt like | This report contains very little
shooting star. Seemed to break into 2 pieces | info but what there is of it indicates
before burning up in atmosphere. | that objt of this sighting was probably
 | a very bright meteor of "fireball" type.
 | Witnesses description that objt appeared
 | to break into 2 pieces tends to sub-
 | stantiate this conclusion.

ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 REP 52)

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28991355