33-21N 171-42W, January 1962January 1962

Insufficient Data

Summary

On January 5, 1962, at about 0512Z (Greenwich time), a military crew aboard a Navy ship reported an object while at sea near 33 degrees north, 171 degrees west in the Pacific. The report was filed on the Project 10073 record card, the Air Force's official record for unidentified flying object reports.

The object was round and about the size and brightness of the planet Venus, with no other unusual features. It was first seen at about 33 degrees elevation, was lost in clouds, then sighted again, disappearing at about 43 to 47 degrees elevation after about 4 minutes. It was seen with the naked eye and through a sextant. The seas were heavy with strong winds, and the weather was generally clear with showers. There were no aircraft in the area.

The Air Force concluded the object was a satellite. The card said the Echo satellite was ruled out by its position, but the object was probably one of several other satellites visible through a sextant, with orbital flight and duration consistent with this.

Reported location

33-21N 171-42W, January 1962

Date of incident

January 1962

State / country

? / XX

Page count

2 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 44

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 2

View transcribed text

4
a MILITARY PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD
| io rT AN CC
4 1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
F 5 Jan 62 33-21IN 171-42w O Wes Bolloon
i OQ Probably Bolloon |
4 3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4 TYPE OF OBSERVATION We Tenwy Suiven
= QO Was Alicraft !
4 [ECT + | Rose Ee Ca A AR ES o pried hd O Ground-Rodar QO Probably Aircraft |
bo GMT 06/ 05127 0 AirVisval 0 Air-Intercept Rader DO Possibly Aircraft i
4 5. PHOTOS . SOURCE OQ Was Astronomicol
gE O Yes rie O Probably Astronemicol
p Ne vilicary : O Possibly Astronomical
a _— [= 114
g 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE D Other_Satellite,
a O Insufficient Data for Evgluation
3 4 min one N §:: Vnvtavn
Be FE eae a eS Ta yee ee
- 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS
4 bject sighted at 33° elev, 120° azimuth, dis- |Echo at 33°N, TO°W at 06/04572. At 05122
4 appearing at 43° elev, 350° azimuth after b Echo would have been above 47.5°N and at
nin observation. “bserved thru cexsant. Object |a longitude of aprox 20°. Echo ruled out.
: as round and size ¢f Venus, No known a/c in However the object was probably one of the
3 area, other satellites visible thru a sextant.
: Orbital flight and duration are consistan
i. with this conclusion. 1961 Epsilon 1,
4 Zeta 1, and Lambda 1&2 have inciinations j
E greater than 80° and perigees below 30C
id miles. They would appear to be heading I.
: ATIC PORM 319 (REV 16 SEP 82)
¢ ~~
3 |

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28996019