5 Mi S of Minden, NevadaMarch 1961

Insufficient Data

Summary

On March 17, 1961, an object was reported about five miles south of Minden, Nevada, around 10:10 p.m. local time. The object was bright white and circular, about the size of a pea. It had two bright lights close together. The sighting lasted about five seconds.

On Project 10073, the Air Force's official record for unidentified flying object reports, the comments said the object was possibly the reentry of a satellite or rocket body, and that it could also have been a meteor. The card listed insufficient data for a firm conclusion.

Reported location

5 Mi S of Minden, Nevada

Date of incident

March 1961

State / country

NV / US

Page count

3 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 42

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 3

View transcribed text

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: 4 PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD
1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
P d " 4 < 0 Wos Bolloon
17 Mar ©1 5 mi S of Minden, Nevada O Probably Bolloon
3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION D Possibly Balloon
2210 LV ig 0 Was Aircraft
ETT BR LT eh Me a 8 Ground- Visual O Ground-Radar 8 Prebebly Alrerels
GMT 1806107 0 Air Visual 0 Air-Intercept Radar D Possibly Aircraft
5. PHOTOS 8. SOURCE O Was Astronomical
0 Yes O Probably Astronomical
2 No Sta O Possibly Astronomical
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE Re] SAA Rene Se
@ Insufficient Dato for Evaluation
0 Unknown
5 sec 1
EEL rp Te fe 3 gg 8 ge rym Tn RE TET TT yg : Rg PGR Ree TE ger EY
10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTINGBTrignt white, circular 1. COMMENTS Cb jt was possibly reentry of
objt, size of pea. Objt had 2 bright lights 61 Beta 3 or rocket body of Transit 1.
close together. Source stated characteristics |It is also possible that it was a meteor
and lighting were not those of falling star. |However, since it is not known where the
Objt sighted 10-20 miles SE of observer's artificial bodies reentered, a valid
position. Disappeared on horizon. Had arcing |conclusion cannot be made as to nature of
flight pk path. Upon impact at horizon gen- oojt. Due to absence of other witnesses,
erated bright orange glow for 5 sec. this report is categorized as Insufficiejt
Data.
ATIC FORM 1329 (REV 26 SEP 52)
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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28991911