43.20N 172.50W (PACIFIC), May 1963May 1963

Insufficient Data

Summary

On May 22, 1963, an object was reported at sea near 43 degrees 20 minutes North, 172 degrees 50 minutes West, in the Pacific. The report came in through a Navy and Air Force message chain. The sighting was logged in Project 10073, the Air Force's official record for unidentified flying object reports.

A barrier radar unit reported one object. It appeared like a shooting star and was watched for about 15 seconds. The observers noted it moving near 355 to 360 degrees with a high elevation around 80 degrees. The message gave the time as 0940Z on May 23.

The Air Force said the object was possibly a satellite. The card noted that the Echo satellite crossed the equator near that time but, if visible, would have been low on the eastern horizon. The general description and short duration fit a meteor better. The case was marked as astronomical.

Reported location

43.20N 172.50W (PACIFIC), May 1963

Date of incident

May 1963

State / country

? / XX

Page count

3 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 47

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 3

View transcribed text

; PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD
EE EE ———— EE EEE E———
1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
; 3 Y 0 Wes Ball
22 May 1963 43, 20N 172 .50% ( tar 1€¢ J [a] Probably Bellon
3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4 TYPE OF OBSERVATION 8 Passibly Balloon
BY Jol Ee eC EE NE he 0 Ground- Visual OD Ground-Radar = hd oo oft
GMT 23/09407 XIXA{r- Visual 0 Air-Intercept Radar | DO Possibly Aircraft
3. PHOTOS ’ [Xk Was Astronomical Met cor
O Yes 0 Probably Astronomical
No MET yaa O Possibly Astronomical
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OP OBJECTS | 9. COURSE HEE Other sitet a RE El Seen
O Insufficient Dato for Evaluation
0 Unknown
ond ORE SRE Ley
10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS
Possibly satellite appearing as a Lchio crossed equator at 141,64W
shooting star observed for 15 seconds al wud and if visible, would
at 585-360 dgr true, 80 dgr elevation, be low on horizon to east. General
description and duration more con
sistent with meteor observation.
: ATIC FORM 328 (REV 26 BEP §2) :

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 29000860