County Darmstadt near Frankfurt, Germany, March 1961March 1961

Insufficient Data

Summary

In March 1961, a civilian witness in the Darmstadt area near Frankfurt, Germany reported seeing an unusual object in the sky. The witness observed it through 12-by-50 binoculars and watched as it changed color, starting bright white, then turning red and orange, and changing back to white. The object appeared to move in an irregular path: toward the right, upward, then toward the left. The file does not provide the exact duration of the sighting or the total distance the object traveled.

The case record form mentions that the object was generally round and changed color as it moved. An Air Force analyst suggested several possible explanations: a weather balloon, the moon, or the planet Jupiter. The investigator noted that the witness had been asked to provide additional information but had not replied by the time the file was compiled. The Air Force determined there was no evidence that the object presented any threat to U.S. security. The file does not specify a final conclusion about what the object was, though the analyst's comments suggest weather balloon or astronomical phenomena as likely explanations.

The full case file, comprising 10 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.

Reported location

County Darmstadt near Frankfurt, Germany, March 1961

Date of incident

March 1961

State / country

? / XX

Page count

10 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 42

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 10

View transcribed text

£
£
: PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD 7 ;
ice ep ebb in tetmaaitent
1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
County Darmstadt near Frakfurt, O Was Ball
r N 8 s Balloon
3 20-25 Marcha 61 Germany [s} Probably Balloon
1 3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION 0 Possibly Bolloon
1100 5 0 Wos Aircraft
Local RE — Ro se sual 0 Ground-Redor 0 Probably Aircraft
CMT 1000 DO AirVisuol 0 Air-Intercept Rodar O Possibly Aireraft
5. PHOTOS . SOURCE 0 Was Astronomical
: 0 Yes 0 Probably Astronomical
+ ONe Civilian O Possibly Astronomical
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE BF OI li iii
> Insufficient Dota for Evaluation
Unknown o 1 Rreg DO Unknown
10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTINGY/itness while looking 11. COMMENTS Lt is possible that objt viewed
generally E or W observed an objt which was by witness was either a Wx balloon, moon
generally round and changing color as it move. |or planet Jupiter. Additional info was
Objt was lst bright white but changed to red, requested fm witness but to date he has
orange and back to white. Objt was reported to |not replied. There is no evidence to
have moved in a path a to observers right. Then|indicate this objt presents a threat
up. Then to observers left. Witness observed to security of U.S.
objt through 12 x 50 binoculars. Duration of
sighting and length of path taken by objt was
not reported.
ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)
N ° 5 S.

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28991926