Chicago, IllinoisApril 1960

Unidentified

Summary

On April 6, 1960, an airman stationed near Chicago wrote to the U.S. Air Force to report that he had witnessed what he believed was the disintegration of the Soviet satellite Sputnik IV. The satellite was expected to fall back to Earth around that time, and the airman said his observation occurred within twelve hours of the predicted reentry event. The witness provided enough detail that the Air Force took his report seriously.

The Air Force forwarded the letter to the Aerospace Technical Intelligence Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, the organization responsible for tracking information about Soviet satellites. Officials at that center recommended that the airman complete a standard UFO questionnaire and be asked to provide any additional information he considered important about his sighting. They also commended him for his initiative in reporting what could have been important scientific data.

The case file shows that Air Force officials appreciated the witness's effort to contribute to the nation's knowledge of activities in space. However, the records indicate that the case was ultimately listed as having insufficient data for evaluation. The Air Force was unable to confirm whether the airman had actually observed the Sputnik IV disintegration or something else entirely.

The full case file, comprising 9 pages, is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.

Reported location

Chicago, Illinois

Date of incident

April 1960

State / country

IL / US

Page count

9 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 38

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 9

View transcribed text

foes SER FY POAT Bre ey tga vnc
os ) " YS ody ek ol Ei a
SEs us ESTED oF Ch AEE al hh gh RR ; i . pi . PRR PAPO SE ETT ertpemneoy

. v $

PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD |
————————— : Sr re ——— ONCOL LIE | ——————
-

I. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS :
| APril, 1950 vileago, 111 ingis 0  Wos Bolloon
OU Probab) Bolloon ;
Eg Te up — TR Cr RR (w] Possibly Bolioon 4
i 3. DATE-Time GRoup | 4% TYPE OF OBSERVATION ried : G
i Local En comer OS AN bi 0 Ground- Vi sue! O Ground-Rodar 0 Wos Aireraft
§ Q Probably Airceafy :
¢ I bin O Ain Vicyol w) Air-lntercons Roda, | DO Possibly Aircrofs
d BT PLAS An Tr r—— 12 ad mma :
: 5. PHOTOS « SOURCE 0 ow i
i 3s Astronomical
i 0 Yes n Probably Astronomieast
: Pst M3 13it are: : 0 Possib) Astronomical
: 0 Nas LLICary y
4 TL S——— ni :

3 ao . Oper ne N
3 7. LENGTH OF OB3ERVATION 0. NuMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. Course a, ithe eq SONS
i 0% Insufficient Data for Evaluation
& ~g Ni 0 Unknown
00, BRIN BO oo simi TIPS Sh ili STE ree om SOE |
10, BRIgre SUMMARY of SIGHTING 1. COMMENTS
| “etter maceirac SUsting that the witness nav eRbOveran Xi eeayed on 96 Lpril,

1 : Sy BS SBNERSL Fry ia of 27 ws (as of Fei Blok
3 13Ve 88an tha decay of YISCoverop XI and TERRA LV ig Lill up ASS OL Feb 196 4
; Sputnik Iv. Follow=un pe iUSST for iaform atioh VY 18 not possibla Lo evaluate the case
i Nanswared, 4 ©n the informat Lon receiv Be It 1a
E 08x] Ll 2 tha 7 the w 1 nes S I'e Fered to J

| oputnik Ir Ly which ‘2eayed on 6 april,
| ; $900, Case listed as insuffic lent Da ta/
g ATI FORM 320 (REV 25 sep $52)
| )
: |
i
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|
od bbl a Sac FET EE Se RT EE ib : PAE R—
A ln hb wb Bc Bi A Th ii
FY
¢ 1

/ 9

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28986357