Project Blue Book Case File
Banks Island, Canada, December 1960December 1960
Summary
On December 5, 1960, at 0935 (9:35 a.m.) local time, an observer on Banks Island in Canada spotted an object in the sky moving toward the southwest. The object had a round body with a thin, pale green tail. It was mostly white in color and descended nearly straight down toward the ground.
As the object fell through the atmosphere, it began to burn up. The observer described its appearance as similar to a falling star. The object was positioned roughly 73 degrees north latitude and 123 degrees west longitude, in a remote part of the Canadian Arctic.
An Air Force message about the sighting noted that the description of the object fit the general category of a meteor. The file states that "there is no information contained in this report which would indicate that this object was NOT such a meteor." The case file runs seven pages, with the investigation largely conducted by message traffic between Air Force facilities in Alaska and continental North America. No follow-up investigation details or formal conclusions appear in the available documents.
The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, 7 pages.
Reported location
Banks Island, Canada, December 1960
Date of incident
December 1960
State / country
? / XX
Page count
7 scanned pages
USAF evaluation
unknown
Microfilm
T1206, Roll 41