60 mi NNE of Duluth, MinnesotaJanuary 1961

Insufficient Data

Summary

On the evening of January 15, 1961, a pilot flying near Duluth, Minnesota spotted a bright object streaking across the night sky. Lieutenant James Chapman, a pilot with the Minnesota Air National Guard, was airborne about 60 miles north-northeast of Duluth when he saw what he described as a bluish-white "shooting star" with a ball of blue light and a slight tail. The object burned out with red sparks after about three seconds of visibility.

Chapman made two search runs along the north shore of Lake Superior to try to locate the object, but both yielded no results. The official Air Force conclusion, based on the pilot's account and available evidence, was that the sighting was probably a meteor, one of many that were being observed during this period.

The case file also includes a detailed study of what appears to be the same fireball event, prepared by a researcher at Lawrence College in Wisconsin. That report documents dozens of eyewitness accounts from across Wisconsin, Minnesota, and the Canadian shore of Lake Superior, all describing a large fireball traveling northward on the same evening. The witnesses consistently described its apparent brightness and direction of travel, and some reported associated sounds and a strong odor of burning sulfur. Despite the breadth of observations, no meteorite was ever recovered. The full case file, comprising 12 pages of Air Force records, is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.

Reported location

60 mi NNE of Duluth, Minnesota

Date of incident

January 1961

State / country

MN / US

Page count

12 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 41

EF : | E Pe | PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD 4 . . v ’ 1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS O Was Balloon | 3 15 Jan 61 60 mi NNE of Duluth, MinnesotdO Adi Mt 3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION TT SERED |. KENNA, MM Ground- Vi sual O Ground-Rodar : 5 Probes Asrerdt | | ; GMT 1524002 X Air Visual O Air-Intercept Radar 0 Possibly Alreralt 5. PHOTOS . SOURCE O Was Astronomical Mere ec I 3 0 Yes X3{ Probably Astronomical & No Civilian « MiCiTARY DO Possibly Astronomical 7. LENGTH OF .OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE BS COs ; O Insufficient Dato for Evaluation 1 <§ gue 1 DO Unknown 1 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTINGBluish-white "shooting [1). COMMENTSOL sect in question was probabl | . ptar” with ball of blue light and slight a meteor, one of the many that are being - ail, Sighted SSI RAIED y PIO 105 . Dis- observed at this time. UERIFieh ®y on seh 10,000% 090”. Burned out with red DE Read STdy ; LANEENCE Lowicac | . Be aes | 8 Ha 7\ x -~ 0 (Ji : : £28 4a J 208 3 Eg > 8. J] = Lr Cr AED gy Ib. 0 | tn PAYER @ 3, I~ CA . ‘ : te v 1 ty ES: = - a’ 2 I>) Lt wo lhe ; 8 SN ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52) 8 ” i { : / 4 . j RRs i XPT SETAE, 3 4 ’ ;