29.57N 140.03W (PACIFIC), May 1963May 1963

Insufficient Data

Summary

On May 3, 1963, Ocean Station Victor, a stationary weather platform in the Pacific Ocean about 140 degrees west longitude and 29.5 degrees north latitude, spotted a large silver-colored balloon drifting slowly toward the southeast. The object hung in the sky for over an hour at an estimated altitude of 15,000 feet, well above two jet aircraft that passed through the area at 33,000 and 35,000 feet.

Several commercial aircraft also reported seeing the balloon. Pan American Flight 818 and United Flight 99 were among multiple planes that made visual sightings. One military transport flight, United Flight 85, observed it at 28,800 feet, while other military aircraft saw it from around 10,000 feet. Radar operators had no contact with the object, meaning it did not show up on their screens.

Observers described the balloon as roughly spherical and made of thin, translucent silver-colored material. The estimated diameter ranged from 50 to 100 feet. The balloon appeared to shift shape slightly as wind moved it, which made sizing it precisely difficult.

The U.S. Navy evaluated the sighting and concluded it posed no threat. The Air Force recorded the object as a balloon, and the case was closed with an "unknown" evaluation designation despite the strong circumstantial evidence that the object was indeed a balloon.

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

Reported location

29.57N 140.03W (PACIFIC), May 1963

Date of incident

May 1963

State / country

? / XX

Page count

9 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 47

PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD ; | i A 1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS E A : Was Balloon 3 | 3 May 1963 29,57N 140,03w (QACiFic] 0 Sranaaly Ballgen 3 ; 3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION x ROR Eu en 1 | RYT] pe EE Ce TIER A CEP HXKGround- Visual CG Ground-Radar a Beebe Aiyarats | CMT 04/00157 ¥XAir Visuol O Air-Intercept Radar O Possibly Aircraft ] 5. PHOTOS . SOURCE O Was Astronomical \ O Yes 0 Probably Astronomical | Mo Military O Possibly Astronomical ; 1 : i 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE [a0 1 | SURE A HA a I : | o pha Data for Evaluation | over one hour : one SE lo \p \ meee Ee Ee EA | : 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS : Silver colored balloon observed drifts Initially reported as UFO. | 4 ing slowly SE, Balloon well! above 33,00 Evaluation and subsequent \ fear of 2 Jet a/c in area at time, rpt indicated obj was a ¢ ; : Sighted from Ocean Station Victor. Ako balloon. Evaluated as''no threatf’ 3 reported as UFO by Pan Am flight 818 an b: Navy. \ Una ted Riliehit. O90 | ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52) 8 J |