East Point, GeorgiaDecember 1962

On the evening of December 1, 1962, an amateur astronomer in East Point, Georgia, made an unusual observation. Using a six inch telescope with a Ramsden eyepiece focused on the moon, the observer noticed a bright object against the dark background of the lunar surface. The sky was clear and bright blue, showing a bright quarter of the moon with its black shadow portion clearly visible.

The object the astronomer saw started as a bright spot against the moon's dark side. It then turned red in color and moved away from the moon. As it gained velocity, it became a brilliant red and remained so. The observer's wife witnessed the event as well. The total observation lasted three to four minutes.

The Air Force investigated the sighting as part of Project Blue Book. In their analysis, investigators considered the observation's circumstances closely. The sighting occurred around sunset, 1725 local time (5:25 p.m.). An official Air Force officer from the balloon watch program responded to the observer's detailed letter, explaining that the object's behavior was consistent with a balloon reflecting bright sunlight at first and then turning red as it descended or moved away from the sun into Earth's shadow. The officer noted that this white to red effect on high altitude balloons in twilight was something he had personally witnessed.

Weather data was requested from the Air Force's Climatic Center in Asheville, North Carolina, and surface observations from Atlanta, Georgia, and Athens, Georgia, were obtained to assess atmospheric conditions at the time.

The Air Force concluded that the sighting was probably a balloon based on the color changes, the motion patterns observed, the clear correspondence between the winds and the object's movement, and the consistency with known balloon behavior during twilight conditions.

The full case file, comprising 20 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.