Alexandria, VirginiaAugust 1962

Unidentified

Summary

On the evening of August 24, 1962, a resident of Alexandria, Virginia spotted an unusual object in the night sky. The witness described it as an egg-shaped object with a red light as bright as the brightest star. The object appeared solid and shiny to the observer.

During the sighting, which lasted about 15 seconds, the object displayed unusual behavior. It initially stood still, then changed speed and brightness. As it moved, it appeared to pause near a star before accelerating again. The object traveled across the sky in a random pattern, first appearing in the northwest and disappearing over the horizon to the southwest. The witness noticed the object was moving at roughly 6 degrees per second across a 90-degree arc of sky, and heard no sound from it.

Air Force investigators analyzed the sighting carefully. They noted that the object's brief duration, small angular distance, and speed of movement were consistent with a meteor observation. However, they also found the witness's account of marked deviations in course and abrupt changes in flight path unusual for a typical meteor. The investigators considered whether the apparent changes in direction might have been optical illusions caused by the proximity of various stars in the field of vision. They concluded the observation was "probably meteor sighting but data not conclusive."

The full case file, comprising 12 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.

Reported location

Alexandria, Virginia

Date of incident

August 1962

State / country

VA / US

Page count

12 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 46

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 12

View transcribed text

p ” RE EE — EE
b PRP a a A — RP e—
LJ
A
PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD |
I. DATE 2. LOCATION ; 12. CONCLUSIONS
Lb 1 Vas Balloon
ER 2) ry ce a9 ) 54 PR $9 ond : 3 Prohably Balloon
Ri | £4 AUZUST & AleXxand pe : Zl01a A
: 2d August 1962 Ale xandria, Virg eet [J Possibly Bolloon
: 3. DATE-TIME GROUP | 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION
i be 0 Was Airerai
b { be ' : as Aircrott
3 Local TT 507091 ESE — ey | 8 Ground- Visual 0 Ground-Radar 1 Probobly Aircrafe
ent. 80/4 21472 is | a Air Vi sual C1 Air-intercapt Radar 0 Possibly Aircraft
; 5. PHOTOS | 8 SOURCE 00 Was Astronomical
J O Yes 0 Probably Astronomical
NE No | Civilian 0 Possibly Astronomical
7. LENGTH OF O33SERVATION | 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE ERRORS IE RELI
i : | LX Insufficient Date for Evaluction
; | = ; 8 Unknown
| EN ERE LL one LL BY YREROU LL ee iii
| jie: BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING E COMMENTS
- £2gg shapad obj with red light as bright Distance & duration of sighting :
|B as brightest star, Shiny. Stood still, indicate meteor nbservation. Holy-
= jchanged speed & brightaess in 15 sec- ever witness indicates narkad |
4 5 és 1 : b lad 3 . : . .
=. ond sighting. Gave appearance of being deviation in course w/abrupt
~ . boo I | - x " 3 » . WN » i & -
i | solid, pgiarred when moving, Bound when changes in flight path, Possible
{ siowad up, No sound, Random movement, illusion, Speed changes attri-
E 3 © £5 ~ 1 JU 5 + } 3 =e I ’ a . .
oF Observed first in NW & then disappearel buted to the close approximatioh
y over horizon in SW. Initial observa- of the various stars in the field
3 LA 4 3 o ” . 1 \ 3 "ve 2 4 r 4 2 . 3 * re . [ nd
g tion at 045dgr disappearing at 125 dgx of vision, The duration of 15
| Slowing down occured when it was near seconds for 90 dgrs of arc or a
f 3 a star, speed of 6 dgr per second is
I | ROssible for meteqrs; hqwever,
E | is in excess for high flvine ajc.
i : ee ee ee eee ee rein ee = » ai1ohked gy :
3 ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52) frobanly meteor sighting but data
I not conclusive,
1 J ’
I 3
f
Be rT oan RRNA (hE Rel v J
; é
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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28998832