Babylon, New YorkMarch 1963

Unidentified

Summary

On the night of March 23, 1963, a fourteen-year-old in Babylon, New York saw a bright light moving across the sky. The object appeared as bright as the star Sirius and stood still at first, then flashed and changed brightness. The witness watched it move south, southwest, and south again over the course of the sighting.

The Air Force questionnaire filled out after the observation describes the object as second magnitude in brightness, meaning it was quite dim compared to the brightest stars. The witness noted it resembled Sirius in color and size. The object's movement pattern and the way it faded once to third magnitude brightness caught the observer's attention during the night sky viewing.

The case file includes extensive satellite tracking data from multiple observation points across the United States, including records from Newark, New Jersey, New York City, Omaha, Nebraska, Denver, Colorado, and Evansville, Indiana. These records document satellite positions on repeated passes over several days in March, tracking objects moving southeast and northeast at various elevations above the horizon.

According to the official evaluation form, the Air Force attributed the sighting to satellite Echo I, a large communications satellite launched in 1960 that was often bright enough to see from the ground. The file notes that the observation was made at low elevation (approximately 5 degrees above the horizon) and places the sighting in the constellation Beta Virginis at 250 degrees azimuth, consistent with Echo I's known orbital characteristics.

The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, spanning 10 pages of microfilm.

Reported location

Babylon, New York

Date of incident

March 1963

State / country

NY / US

Page count

10 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 47

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 10

View transcribed text

b
|
i /
[ PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD
3 I. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
| O Was Balloon
| |;23 March 1963 ~~ | Babylon, New York = |B Erobbly Belicen
| 3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION y
; (REE CAR CR XXGround- Visual TX O Ground-Radar & reer A
CMT Ro /08872 0 Air Visual 0 Air-Intercept Radar O Possibly Aircraft
ET ————————————————————————————————————————————— et Peete, es eet See — eet ————.
5. PHOTOS 6. SOURCE 0 Wos Astronomical
QO Yes O Probobly Astronomical
£3No Civili O Possibly Astronomical
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE Other ECHO I
O insufficient Dota for Evaluation
= : 0 Unknown
EEE i gRe eRe SR ll
} 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS
; Light of 2d magnitude standing still, ECHO I over New York City at
flashing, and changing brightesess 0438 Eastern Standard Time to
ouservation by 14 year old during night|the south of the city at 05 dgr
with color of Sirius, Moved to S, SW elevation moving SE. This is a
and then S again. About same size of rather low elevation, Beta Virco
gs PHA er fi Fa 9 = . & =
Sirius, Speed of ECHO. Looked like at 250 dgr azimuth 15 dgr eleva-
D1lrius moving, Also observed through tion. Sighting attributed to
x - : S k >
TX (make not determined), Initial satellite ECHO I.
oovation of object in Beta Virgo, Obj
faded once to 3d magnitude.
ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)

/ 10

Use ← → keys to navigate · scans hosted by the U.S. National Archives

Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 29000461