Atlantic (New York-Lisbon), September 1962September 1962

On the night of September 24, 1962, a TWA Boeing 707 flying from New York to Lisbon at 37,000 feet encountered an unexpected and striking phenomenon. The pilot and crew witnessed a fiery, blue-white object roughly the size of a football traveling at tremendous speed. The object passed close to the aircraft and illuminated the surrounding airspace with intense brightness. Other crew members and at least one passenger confirmed the sighting.

The object appeared at approximately 0424 Zulu time (military time, or 4:24 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time) at a location the pilot was able to pinpoint on a navigation chart. According to the pilot's account, the object seemed to originate from low altitude while climbing at high speed, approaching from a southwesterly direction. The aircraft was flying on a heading of 120 degrees magnetic when the encounter occurred. A layer of clouds existed below the plane at the time. The object emitted a bright glow and left a trail with sparks, creating an unmistakable visual impression on all observers.

When the aircraft landed in Lisbon, the pilot filed an incident report. Concerned that the sighting might relate to military research or weapons testing, he also contacted Picatinny Arsenal, a U.S. Army facility in New Jersey. Initially, the pilot suggested the object could have been a missile of Soviet origin. The Air Force investigated the report and examined all available details, including the flight path and timing.

After reviewing the evidence, the Air Force concluded that the object was most likely a meteor. The file notes that the object's appearance, including the bright glow and sparks trailing behind it, was consistent with a meteor entering the atmosphere. The illusion that the object was coming from below the clouds was attributed to the high closing speed between the aircraft and the meteor, combined with the aircraft's own altitude. As the meteor descended toward the plane on a collision course, it would naturally appear to be ascending from below the clouds from the crew's perspective. The case was classified as a meteor sighting.

The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, consisting of 25 scanned pages.