Dayton, OhioMay 1962

Insufficient Data

Summary

On a May day in 1962, a driver in Dayton, Ohio saw a shiny object moving across the sky from west to east. The object stayed visible for about five minutes. The witness was traveling in a car at 25 miles per hour at the time. The object appeared very high in the sky and gave the impression of a satellite. It moved slower than an airplane would move.

The observer first noticed the object when it was 45 degrees above the horizon (roughly halfway up the sky). It traveled across the zenith (the point directly overhead) and disappeared behind a cloud at 45 degrees on the other side. The object's edges appeared fuzzy or blurred. The brief summary in the case file notes that the object had a satellite-like appearance.

Investigators checked whether the object might have been the ECHO satellite, an orbiting spacecraft that was in orbit at the time. However, ECHO was located in the southern hemisphere when this sighting occurred and would not have been visible from Dayton. The Air Force concluded that it was possible the witness had observed an aircraft, but the evidence was not clear enough to be certain. The case file states: "No conclusion can be reached on the limited data." The case was marked as unknown.

This case file, held by the National Archives, consists of 9 pages.

Reported location

Dayton, Ohio

Date of incident

May 1962

State / country

OH / US

Page count

9 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 45

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 9

View transcribed text

ee PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD LE |
1. DATE 2. LOCATION 3 12. CONCLUSIONS
| 0 ‘Yas Balloon
2 May 62 Davton, Ohio . 0 Probably Balloon
| 3. DATETIME GROUP NE TIPROR NER | @ Soswny Ralioon
FCT) BR pea Mee A Sk Se I NR XGround-Vi sual 0 Ground-Radar - pe Lg PN
Loans USJLRAOUR 0 Air~VYisual 0 Air-Intercept Radar O Possibly Aircroft
5. PHOTGCS §. SOURCE ETT REE & Ta (Fe (ro pe pag
O Yes 0 Probably Astronomical
i i to | Civilian 0 Possibly Astronomical
7. LENGTH OF O3SERVATION i NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE i AE NR,
i Insufficient Data for Evaluation
i if 0 Unknown
j i 5 mins one Last
10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS an
Shiny grep obj observed for Bb mins ECHO data indicated that ECHO
3 | moving fm West to East. Disappeared was in the Southern hemisphere a
4 behind a cloud. Observation fm car the time & not visible in Dayton
3 moving 25 mph, Initial observation at| No conclusion can be rcached on th
45 degs, crossing zenigh and disappeat-the limited data. It is possible|t
: ing at 45 deg elev. Gave impression that the witmaess observed an a/c
{ nf satellite appearance. Moving slowef but the evidence is inconclusive
i than a/c. Appeared very high,
ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)
[3
|
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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28997100