Clinchco, VirginiaMay 1962

On a May evening in 1962, an observer in Clinchco, Virginia, watched several round, whitish objects moving slowly across the sky. The sighting lasted about 5 or 6 minutes and occurred between 7 and 9 p.m. The objects moved at a slow pace and in a random flight path before disappearing behind nearby mountains. The observer had poor eyesight and grew tired while watching, viewing the objects one at a time rather than together.

The Air Force investigated by checking whether the objects might have been balloons. Officials learned that Pibal balloons (small weather balloons used to measure wind patterns) had been released from a nearby airport earlier in May. The prevailing winds at the time would have carried those balloons over the same area where the observer saw the objects. Because the objects resembled balloons to the observer and because the timing matched known balloon releases, Air Force investigators found no reason to change the observer's own assessment that what he had seen were likely balloons.

The Air Force marked this case as unidentified on its official record card, meaning it did not fit neatly into any confirmed category. However, the case summary strongly suggested a prosaic explanation. No altitude or azimuth measurements were recorded in the file. The full case file, comprising 10 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.