Durban, S. Africa, February 1951February 1951

Insufficient Data

Summary

On the morning of February 21, 1951, over Durban, South Africa, civilians reported a torpedo-shaped object in the sky. The main witness, a tramwayman finishing a night shift, was sitting in a lorry stopped at a street corner shortly before 5:00 a.m. when he looked up and saw the object travel slowly overhead. He noted the time as 4:35.

He said the object was beautifully colored, with the front bright red, the center dark red, and the end bright red. There was no noise and no trail. It traveled parallel to the ground and did not drop like a star. He watched it for about a minute before it passed from sight.

Other people waiting for a train at Marebank station also saw the object, though one described its color as blue. A local astronomer said it could not have been a comet. The reports reached the U.S. Air Force through the State Department. The Air Force recorded the case in Project 10073, its official file for unidentified flying object reports. The conclusion was unidentified.

Reported location

Durban, S. Africa, February 1951

Date of incident

February 1951

State / country

? / XX

Page count

5 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 8

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 5

View transcribed text

K
PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD (
1. DATE ; ( 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS |
i 0 Was Balloon
EE EE eB ARS ID whey Belles
3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4 TYPE OF OBSERVATION O Possibly Balloon
0 Wes Aircraf
Loco! cv mame ti Ground- Visual 0 Ground-Rader 5) Probably Aircroft
Me LESS | BD Air-Vi suai DO Airintercept Radar ue TH F—
5. PHOTOS 6. SOURCE 0 Yes Asionomied :
0 Yes 0 Probobly Astronomical
B No g NOTYEIVEN CIVILIAN 0 Possibly Astronomical
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION I's. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE “18 Other UNIDENTIFIED
OD Insufficient Dyto for Evaluation
3 1 pinute | 1 Not given 0 Unknown
10,, BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING ~~ CRREERESeEE be Ee
Color was bright dark red, Shape like torpedo. UNIDENTIFIED,
Looking through a windshield from a lorry
which was stationary. It was traveling paralle
to the ground and not dropping like a star.
ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP §2)

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28939100