Bethel, AlaskaJanuary 1962

Unidentified

Summary

On January 28, 1962, a witness near Bethel, Alaska, reported an object in the sky. The sighting was made at about 0203 GMT on January 29, during the day, and lasted about 30 seconds. The object was seen from the ground near the end of the Bethel town runway. The witness was a licensed private pilot for 15 years who owned his own plane and was considered very reliable.

The object looked similar to a distant plane or jet with sunlight reflecting off it. It was silver and about the size of a dime held at arm's length. There was one object, moving too fast for a conventional plane. It traveled due west, then turned in a northerly direction, and disappeared into a fog bank to the north. The sky was clear with unlimited ceiling and visibility.

The Air Force record card lists this case as aircraft. The card states the object was probably an aircraft with sunlight reflecting from it, and that there was no evidence it was an interplanetary vehicle or a threat to national security.

Reported location

Bethel, Alaska

Date of incident

January 1962

State / country

AK / US

Page count

5 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 44

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 5

View transcribed text

|
LT . PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD
1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
28 Jan 62 | Bethel, Alaska O Probably Balloon
3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION G. Possilly Saiienn :
tect LL %KGround- Visual O Ground-Rodar 4 Ti os LIE
GMT 29; 02032 a Air Visual 0 Air-Intercept Radar O Possibly Aircraft
EST PHOTOS es see pe En es TE TROURGE ae or renin re ou bee Wed A SR Ba a
OYes D Probably Astronomical
No | Civilian O Possibly Astronomical
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION g NUMBER OF OBJECTS i COURSE oR 01 | PY a Se NR Ti
O Insufficient Date for Evaluation
O Unknown
30 Sec. if N
10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 3 11. COMMENTS
n object described as similar to anair- At 02052, 2G Jan 62, Echo was 3 of
raft with sunlight reflecting off of it equator. Object viewed by this witness
13 seen from Bethel, Alaska. Object was wis probably an aircraft with sunlight
| Joserved for ec and appeared to be silverl.reflecting from it. There is no evi-
{ Disappeared in = fog bank to the HN. dence available in this report which
| indicates object is an interplanetary
pace vehicie bearing life or intelli-
gence in any form or that ifs presence
constitutes a threat to national
ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)
-

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28996109