6 Mi W of Cloquet, MinnesotaJanuary 1961

Insufficient Data

Summary

On the night of January 3, 1961, a driver traveling west on Big Lake Road near Cloquet, Minnesota, saw an unusual object in the sky. The witness was moving at about 45 miles per hour when he first spotted the object at an elevation of roughly 300 feet. The object appeared as a flare-like shape about the size of a dime, with a blue-yellow flame and a long exhaust trail that looked rounded at the front end. The whole sighting lasted between 20 and 30 seconds.

As the witness watched, the object dropped slowly, as if a parachute were slowing its descent. It left a trail of smoke behind it as it fell. The object disappeared behind a line of trees to the west, dropping in an arc. The witness thought the object had fallen into the woods, but he could not pinpoint a location close enough to make a search practical. The area around Big Lake Road is scrubby brush near the road, with heavy woods further back.

The U.S. Air Force's initial assessment, noted on the case file cover sheet, concluded that the witness likely saw a meteor as it was disintegrating in Earth's atmosphere. The file also includes a brief note about the Quadrantid meteor shower, which reached its maximum on the morning of January 3rd that year, though the bright moon that night would have made observing the shower difficult. No other witnesses to the sighting were reported. The full case file, consisting of seven pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.

Reported location

6 Mi W of Cloquet, Minnesota

Date of incident

January 1961

State / country

MN / US

Page count

7 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 41

ods EEE THN RN OD TIMTTEL RAEI 170 cA mE GRE A DAT YA ATOR (EASE sa) y y . FE : \ . : . PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD | | l. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS RET E id 3 RR pad 0 Was Balloon 3 Jan 61 © mi W of Cloguet, Minnesota |p Probably Balloon 3, DATE-TIME GROUP | 4 TYPE OF oBservATioN | Possibly Belleon 0025 : A 0 Was Aircraft Local wo ee & 8 Ground- Visual O Ground-Rodar 0 Probably Aircraft GMT. 03 J c22% Jan ny a Air-Vizual - 0 Air-Intercept Rodar DO Possibly Aircraft 5. "PHOTOS 8. SOURCE 0 Was Astronomico! {latoor Q Ves DO Probebly Astronomical No Civilian 0 Possibly Astronomical 7. LENGTH OF O3SERVATION 3. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE BE I 0 Insufficient Data for Evaluation : O Unknown 20-30 sec, one Descending 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING I'1are-tipe object, size |. COMMENTSPyrom the description and of dime, blue-yellow flame, Left trail of smokp, duration it appears that the witness Long exhaust shape rounded at front end. First| saw a meteor as it was desintegrating | {aeen about 300 feet above ground. Dropped into] in the earth's atmosphere. voods,., Dropred slowly as if parachute | | ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52) 3 TIRES Saba NY ios div oid midis 13 nis ‘