Baltimore, MarylandAugust 1962

On the evening of August 23, 1962, observers near Baltimore, Maryland watched what they initially thought was a satellite pass overhead multiple times. The main sighting, called "A1," occurred around 2147 (9:47 p.m.). The observer used a telescope (a Questar model) and saw three distinct lights: one bright white light, a fainter red light positioned about 40 seconds of arc ahead of it, and another much fainter white light positioned at a right angle to the direction of travel. The object moved across roughly 50 degrees of sky in about 2 and a half minutes, giving it a speed of roughly one-third of a degree per second.

A second sighting, "A2," happened about an hour and a half later, presumably the same object making another pass. Four observers on the ground, including three adults and one teenager, saw both events. The brightness of the object was estimated to be somewhere between that of the Echo satellite and the planet Jupiter. A separate object labeled "B" was also sighted during the evening, appearing about 10 minutes before each A sighting. Notably, object B traveled in a direction opposite to the normal path of satellites.

The U.S. Air Force's Aerospace Technical Intelligence Center stated that the sightings did not match anything on their radar or visual records, and the flight paths did not follow standard aircraft routes. No sound was heard during the observations, even though witnesses were listening for it. Because the object's speed and duration were consistent with a high-flying jet aircraft, the Air Force concluded there was no reason to evaluate the sightings as anything other than aircraft. The case file notes that the possibility of Russian practice maneuvers was considered, but the OCR text becomes unclear at this point.

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