Project Blue Book Case File
Bothell, WashingtonNovember 1960
Summary
On November 30, 1960, a woman in Bothell, Washington, saw something unusual while standing at her kitchen window. She described a brilliant white object, very large, that seemed to drift downward and then suddenly dart upward. It sparkled with great brightness and appeared to have needles or sharp rays shooting out from all around it, giving it a crystal-like appearance. She watched for about twenty minutes before it disappeared below the horizon.
The Air Force investigated by sending her a detailed questionnaire. From the witness's answers, investigators learned that she had viewed the object through the lower half of her kitchen window. She was standing near the sink, about twenty-five inches from the window. The object appeared at a very small angle above the horizon. The evening was cold, crisp, and dry with a few scattered clouds. An Air Force analyst noted that at the time of the sighting, the star Capella was just rising in the northeast. Capella is a relatively bright star. The analyst considered whether the witness might have been observing this star through the lower part of her window, with the angle and optical effects creating the appearance of movement and the crystalline rays.
On January 16, 1961, officials at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base informed the witness that insufficient data was available to reach a valid conclusion about what she had seen. They requested she complete a more detailed technical information form and answer several follow-up questions about her window, the surrounding area, and weather conditions at the time. The responses to these questions would be forwarded to the Aerospace Technical Intelligence Center for further analysis.
The full case file, comprising 25 pages, is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.
Reported location
Bothell, Washington
Date of incident
November 1960
State / country
WA / US
Page count
25 scanned pages
USAF evaluation
unknown
Microfilm
T1206, Roll 41