Columbus, OhioSeptember 1960

Insufficient Data

Summary

On September 24, 1960, in Columbus, Ohio, a civilian witness reported seeing a large ball of fire moving from south to north at about 60 degrees elevation on a straight level flight path. The sighting lasted 2 to 3 seconds. The object appeared very large and flew at an estimated altitude of 25 to 50 miles. It had a long tail about 5 times the diameter of the main body, with sparks falling from it. The witness observed the object for 2 to 3 seconds. The Air Force evaluation was recorded as unknown.

Reported location

Columbus, Ohio

Date of incident

September 1960

State / country

OH / US

Page count

2 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 40

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 2

View transcribed text

PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD

1. DATE                          2. LOCATION                    12. CONCLUSIONS
   24 Sep 60                         Columbus, Ohio                 [ ] Was Balloon
                                                                     [ ] Probably Balloon
3. DATE-TIME GROUP              4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION          [ ] Possibly Balloon
   Local: 2045                      [ ] Ground-Visual              [ ] Was Aircraft
   GMT: 2301/1152                   [ ] Ground-Radar               [ ] Probably Aircraft
                                    [ ] Air-Visual                 [ ] Possibly Aircraft
5. PHOTOS                       [ ] Air-Intercept Radar          [ ] Was Astronomical
   [ ] Yes                      6. SOURCE                        [ ] Probably Astronomical
   [ ] No                           Civilian                       [ ] Possibly Astronomical
                                                                   [ ] Other
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION        8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS  9. COURSE  [ ] Insufficient Data for Evaluation
   2-3 sec                          one                N           [ ] Unknown

10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING   11. COMMENTS
    Very large ball of fire moving from S-H at about Probably a meteor.
    60° elevation on straight level flight path.
    Object had a long tail 5 times the diameter of
    the main body and sparks were seen to be fall-
    ing from the object.

ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 AUG 53)

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28989328