Atlantic OS ECHO, January 1963January 1963

Insufficient Data

Summary

On January 31, 1963, witnesses over the Atlantic Ocean reported a bright flash or explosion in the sky. The reports came from several aircraft and from the ship USS Dunkirk. The sighting lasted about 5 to 10 seconds.

Watch crew saw a white light moving across the southern sky toward the horizon, at a speed like a shooting star. A short trail of sparks or debris followed and was brighter than the object itself. The object then grew brighter and seemed to explode, lighting up the sea for several seconds.

Some witnesses compared the burst to a shower of sparks from a sky rocket. Others described it only as a brilliant flash without sparks. The object was seen by several sources over a wide area. The Air Force, in its Project 10073 record, concluded the description was characteristic of a bolide type meteor.

Reported location

Atlantic OS ECHO, January 1963

Date of incident

January 1963

State / country

? / XX

Page count

4 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 47

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 4

View transcribed text

4 : i
: {
; \ #
¢
|
|
Ho |
: > PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD > - Pay 3
i ‘
FE | 1. pate 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS :
; : O Was Balloon
; 31 January 1963 Atlantic OS ECHO O Probably Balloon |
. | 3 oaTe-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION ada |
: ET HXSround- Visual O Ground-Radar 5 Biobably Avera |
3 cMT____31/0600Z O AirVisual 0 Air-intercept Radar O Possibly Aircraft |
| 5. PHOTOS 8. SOURCE OX Was Astronomicol Meteor
E O Yes | a Probably Astronomical
Bo Military & Civilian 0O Possibly Astronomical {
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS 9. COURSE BE Oe a
4 (a) (asus sm Data for Evaluation i !
i A @]
5-10 seconds one | exploding Si |
.  |10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS :
Four air sightings of bright flash or Object viewed By several sources
explosion, Report of white light mov- over wide area, Description
ing in southern sky toward horizon characteristic of bolide type
at rate of shooting star, Short tail meteor,
of sparks or debris & obj exploded wit
; sufficient brilliance to light up
sea for 5-10 seconds. Explosion
E described by some witness as like showgr
J of sparks from sky rocket, MERINT rpt
from USS DunHirk,
| ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 57) redhil
3 /
: ) %
»

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 29000166