Dayton, OhioSeptember 1960

Insufficient Data

Summary

On the evening of September 3, 1960, a witness in Dayton, Ohio, called in a sighting of an unusual object in the sky. The observer watched a green object with a red light revolving around it through binoculars and a telescope. The sighting lasted 45 minutes, during which the object remained stationary at one point.

The witness described the object as small enough that a match head held at arm's length would cover it completely. The object was examined through optical aids and appeared as a bright light against the night sky. An investigator from the Air Force went to the location and examined the same area of sky that the witness had reported.

The investigator noted that a bright star was visible in the part of the sky where the witness had seen the object. Star charts indicated that the constellation Andromeda was located in that same area. Andromeda contains several second magnitude stars, which are bright enough to be clearly visible to the naked eye.

The Air Force concluded that the sighting was probably a balloon, though the record card lists "balloon" and "probably balloon" alongside other evaluation options that appear partially obscured or unclear in the OCR'd document. This case file, consisting of 10 pages of the original documentation, is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.

Reported location

Dayton, Ohio

Date of incident

September 1960

State / country

OH / US

Page count

10 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 40

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 10

View transcribed text

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; g— PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD
i LL ————————— — -—-—_—_—_—_——
& | 1. DATE | 2. LOCATION | 12. CONCLUSIONS
i i 3 Sep 60 | Daveo Ohi lo Was Bolloon
g oS | von, AAP 10 Probably Bolloon
: fee rarest] €) bly Belicon
f | J. DATE-TIME GROUP | 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION { WY
i nn 3 | Was A 3]
: | Local Bin SHEER J Ground- Visual O Ground-Rodar t: Probebly Alvord
| ' ia a} - P i
¥ | CM CHEER TL 2 HR 0 AireVYisuval oO Alr-Intarcept Hadar o s ossibly Aircrobt
E 3 EE a —————— ——————————— 1
| 5. PHOTOS o. SQURCE 10 Was Astronomicoel \0aromeda |
£ 0 Yes PREP {3 Probobly Astronomical {
i | Civilian 0 Possibly Astronomical |
BN | a Ne |
; | 7. LENGTH OF DBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE 0 Otheteeeee
\ ] 0 lnsuificient Date for Evaluation
4 | b 0 : Ss 0 Unknown ;
; 45 min plus one stationary
[4 EE —— Tr EE ———— Er wre 7-7 Sm
& 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 171. COMMENTS
F | : i ; Sl a : |
; [+ #reena 112a% with red ligat revolving around | The SDO stated that he went out at the |
£ (it. Was s=2en tarcugh binoculars and telescope. time of the call about the sighting and |
i , match head would covar the object. | saw a bright star in that part of the
i SKY reported by the witness. Star charss|
: | indicate the consteliation Andromeda in |
& | {| the location report=ad by the witness. i
: This constellation has several 2nd |
: | magnitude stars in it. !
|
| i
a  ———————— i ————————————re
: TIC FORM 329 (REV 26 3EP 52)
¥/
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ry .

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28988759