3945N 12733W (PACIFIC), June 1961June 1961

Insufficient Data

Summary

# A Radar Sighting in the Pacific

In June 1961, a U.S. Air Force radar crew flying over the Pacific Ocean detected two unidentified objects on their instruments. The crew was aboard an RC-121D aircraft, a specialized radar plane carrying experienced intercept directors and weapons officers. The sighting occurred near coordinates 3945N 12733W, well out at sea.

The radar operators tracked the objects for 8 hours and 19 minutes. The unidentified vessels appeared to be stationary, located at distances ranging from 82 to 125 kilometers away. During the sighting, two additional radar returns appeared and disappeared at different locations. The crew considered the evidence significant enough to photograph their radar scope displays, and some of those photographs were available to investigators.

Shortly after detecting the radar targets, the crew reported seeing an unidentified flying object that seemed to come from the position of one of the radar contacts. According to the technical details filed, the object traveled in a ragged arc-shaped path heading generally north to south, bowing westward by approximately 59 miles off a straight course. The total straight-line distance from the beginning of the track to where it faded from radar was about 159 miles. The object disappeared from radar three minutes before the end of the main sighting period.

The U.S. Air Force sent the case to its technical intelligence center for review. The officers who examined the radar evidence wrote that while the limited information made it difficult to reach firm conclusions from a radar standpoint, they agreed with the most likely evaluation offered in the original reporting message. No additional details about that evaluation appear clearly in the available file pages.

The complete case file, consisting of 19 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.

Reported location

3945N 12733W (PACIFIC), June 1961

Date of incident

June 1961

State / country

? / XX

Page count

19 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 42

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