Chantilly, VirginiaApril 1963

Insufficient Data

Summary

In April 1963, a Washington correspondent for the Montreal Star and his wife reported seeing an unusual object in Chantilly, Virginia. The witness described it as a single object that resembled the planet Mars or a bright star, with a slight reddish tinge. The object moved in an east-northeast direction and disappeared behind trees after remaining visible for approximately two minutes. The witnesses reported no sound accompanying the sighting.

The Air Force's record card noted that no estimate of speed or altitude could be determined from the observation. In their comments, investigators suggested the object was probably an aircraft on a flight path toward Washington D.C., Baltimore, or another large city in the indicated direction. The file also references a related case dated April 18, 1963, though details of that sighting are not included in this document.

The witness, Peter Trueman, contacted the Air Force Public Information Division in late April 1963 seeking an evaluation of the sighting. He expressed interest in writing a story about Project Blue Book for his newspaper and hoped to include the Air Force's findings about his observation as a way to give the article personal significance for his readers.

The Air Force's final evaluation for this case was listed as unknown, meaning investigators could not definitively identify what Trueman and his wife observed. The complete case file, comprising nine pages, is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.

Reported location

Chantilly, Virginia

Date of incident

April 1963

State / country

VA / US

Page count

9 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 47

+ ] PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD is | 3 3 1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS 1 : : b TE ; O Wos Balloon 1 3 April 1963 Chantilly, Virginia O Probably Balloon ~ | 3 DATETIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION 0 RoR B i REen | 4 Vi i Was Aircraft 1 Local 2013 HE Il R2Ground- Vi sual O Ground-Rador QO Probably Aircraft | GMT 04/0115Z O Air Visual 0 Air-Intercept Radar DO Possibly Aircraft E 5. PHOTOS 6. SOURCE 0 Was Astronomical i O Yes : O Probably Astronomical - 4 RN Civilian - DO Possibly Astronomical E 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE O Other. aif hid O Insufficient Dota for Evaluation i. ; J i OO Unknown | § | ___2 minutes : ene oh BE el a SH 1 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING [11. COMMENTS ES : : : Pf | Single obj not unlike mars w/slight | A/C probably on flight to i reddish tinge. Also comparable to | Washington D.C., Baltimore 4 bright star, moving in ENE direction or other large city in direc- 2 where 1t disappeared behind trees after tion indicated (also see i a 2 minute flight, No estimate on case dtd 18 April ) E spzed or altitude, No sound. 1 G5 1] 1 | 4 { ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)