35.00N 48.00W (ATLANTIC), March 1963March 1963

Insufficient Data

Summary

On March 28, 1963, an observer on a ship in the Atlantic Ocean at coordinates 35 degrees North, 48 degrees West sighted a fast-moving object in the night sky. The object was first spotted bearing 060 degrees (roughly northeast) at an altitude of 62 degrees above the horizon. As the observer watched, the bearing remained constant while the altitude gradually decreased to 15 degrees. The sighting lasted an unspecified amount of time. The object appeared as a bright, fast-moving point of light resembling a star.

The Air Force received the report through naval channels on March 28, 1963, at 2152 hours (9:52 p.m.). Multiple military messages transmitted the same basic information to the Atlantic Fleet, the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD), the Air Force Headquarters, and other commands. One message noted the report might be a duplicate of an earlier submission.

The file includes detailed tables of predicted satellite positions for the period, suggesting that Air Force analysts were checking whether known satellites could account for the sighting. Based on the object's behavior, trajectory, and apparent characteristics, Air Force evaluators concluded that the sighting was most likely caused by a satellite. The case file notes that similar reports of this duration and nature had previously been evaluated as satellites.

The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, comprising 16 pages of records.

Reported location

35.00N 48.00W (ATLANTIC), March 1963

Date of incident

March 1963

State / country

? / XX

Page count

16 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 47

- : PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD : 2 7 i I. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS Fg i [ OD Wos Balloon __28 March 1963 35,00N_ 48,000 (A7eingec) 3 Probably Balloon | 3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION i add Ga : Local EE es XR Ground- Visual O Ground-Rador B Biballs A berate | omur____28/21502 O Air Visual O Air-Intercept Radar [0 Possibly Aircraft S. PHOTOS 6. SOURCE 0 Was Astronomical O Yes O Probably Astronomical XX No Militar O Possibly Ssreheni cdl / | 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE BX orher__Satellitelie. {| O Insufficient Data for Evaluation O Unknown A not reported pone 1060 det He gy 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS ! Object described as a fast moving Sighting contains only limited star sighted heading 060 dgr at 62 information, On basis of Previous dgr altitude, Bearing remained con- rpts of this nature with the Stant and elevation decreased to 15 duration missing, case is evalua- dgrs, ted as a possible satellite, Description and heading conform with this analysis, € Nie “ 4 § B) i$ ¢ CATE = & a STP aad : l ee AD 3 ; | TE eb LE SC RS SE ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52) Z. of | 4 / . /