Dayton, OhioSeptember 1961

Unidentified

Summary

On a September evening in 1961, a witness in Dayton, Ohio saw an unusual light in the sky. The object appeared as red, blue, and green colors and was visible for only about one and a half seconds. The witness described it as looking like a Fourth of July rocket, but noticeably larger.

The sighting was brief, and the witness provided limited details about the object's appearance and behavior. No sound was reported. The observation took place during evening hours, though the exact time and some other specifics in the witness questionnaire are difficult to read in the original document.

Air Force investigators concluded that the sighting was most likely a meteor. The brief duration of the observation, combined with the object's colorful appearance and the way it moved across the sky, matched the characteristics of a meteor entering the atmosphere. The file states that "it is therefore concluded that sighting was a meteor observation." The case was officially marked as unidentified, meaning the Air Force had not positively identified the object, even though their analysis pointed toward a natural explanation.

The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, consisting of 7 pages.

Reported location

Dayton, Ohio

Date of incident

September 1961

State / country

OH / US

Page count

7 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 43

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 7

View transcribed text

pr ; i pm— nisi $98 wrngpan ts EES HERA FI Fr BARIATRIC RY APRA) MBA be
= ’ : ¥ ae [Eh VESTAS RAE RAR MC RN hI mE a)
= a LE SER
PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD RAE (STO : |
I. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS |
" |a Wes Balloon
Sep 61 Dayton, Ohio 0 Probobly Balloon |
3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION AB dp tale
0 Was Aireraft
aa Q *3 Ground-Visuvel O Greund-Rader 0 Probably Aircraft |
emt2[10032 | 0 AirVisvel O Aireintercopt Radar | © Possibly Aircraft
S. PHOTO : 0 Was Astronomical MeTe 2 & |
QO Yes : 3X Probably Astronomical
XXNe Civilian O Possibly Astronomical |
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE RR RRR: COE BRET SA |
= Dh bb Ag Data for Evaluation |
1 1/2 sec 1 WNW dst : 4
10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 1 red-blue-green obJjt, |11. COMMENTS Description of objt is limited
no eound described as a 4th of July rocket onlhowever short duration coupled with rocke
larger. appearance is characteristic of a meteor |
| : observation. It is therefore concluded |
that sighting was a meteor observation. |
| ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52) - |
| J
; R / g 5 . | k
£ : Fre Le PRAT TT TT Aa i . ; |

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28994450