E Of Mt. Whitney, CaliforniaSeptember 1960

Unidentified

Summary

On September 18, 1960, a sighting was reported east of Mt. Whitney, California. A military witness observed a very large and bright meteor with a bright green color. The object burned out while still above the horizon. It was near enough to illuminate canyon walls and campground with light comparable to an air dropped photo flash bomb. The object descended 75 degrees down to 45 degrees above the horizon, with azimuth angles 30 degrees to 60 degrees true north. Duration of observation was not given. The Air Force evaluated the sighting as unidentified.

Reported location

E Of Mt. Whitney, California

Date of incident

September 1960

State / country

CA / US

Page count

2 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 40

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 2

View transcribed text

NOT GIVEN          PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD

1. DATE                    2. LOCATION                          12. CONCLUSIONS
   18 Sep 60                  E of Mt Whitney, California         [] Was Balloon
                                                                   [] Probably Balloon
3. DATE-TIME GROUP         4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION               [] Possibly Balloon
   Local ____                 [] Ground-Visual    [] Ground-Radar  [] Was Aircraft
   GMT ____ 19/0315Z          [] Air-Visual       [] Air-Intercept Radar  [] Probably Aircraft
                                                                   [] Possibly Aircraft
5. SOURCE                  6. SOURCE                            [] Was Astronomical
   [] Yes                     Military                            [] Probably Astronomical
                                                                   [] Possibly Astronomical
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION   8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS  9. COURSE      [] Other_______________
   not given                  one                3               [] Insufficient Data for Evaluation
                                                                   [] Unknown
10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING              11. COMMENTS

Appeared as a very large and bright meteor    Description is typical of a meteor.
with a bright green color. Burned out while
still above the horizon. Was near enough to
illuminate the canyon walls and campground
such as an air dropped photo flash bomb.

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28989157