Project Blue Book Case File
Ashland, KentuckyAugust 1961
Summary
In August 1961, someone in Ashland, Kentucky reported seeing an unidentified object in the sky. The file indicates two separate sightings that night. During the first sighting, an oval object with a reddish color appeared in the northeast sky about three minutes after a known satellite passed overhead. About an hour later, the witness observed a second object moving west, then south, and then back toward the east.
The Air Force investigator noted that no known satellites were in the area at those times. The color and flight path of the first object suggested it might have been a slow moving meteor. The file also mentions that the second sighting appeared to be an aircraft. The investigator added that the earth's rotation could have made the object appear to move more slowly than it actually was if it had been traveling westward.
The case file is heavily redacted and the OCR quality of the witness questionnaire responses is poor in places, making some details difficult to read with certainty. The file does not appear to contain a final Air Force conclusion beyond the investigator's initial assessment in the summary card.
The full case file, consisting of 24 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.
Reported location
Ashland, Kentucky
Date of incident
August 1961
State / country
KY / US
Page count
24 scanned pages
USAF evaluation
unknown
Microfilm
T1206, Roll 43