Essex, IllinoisAugust 1960

Unidentified

Summary

In August 1960, residents of Essex, Illinois found multiple foil strips on the ground. A civilian reported the discovery and sent samples to Chanute Air Force Base for identification. The witness wanted to know how the strips arrived in the fields. The Air Force determined the foil was chaff used in radar jamming. No specific observation duration or time was reported. The Air Force concluded the objects were radar chaff, not a threat to living creatures.

Reported location

Essex, Illinois

Date of incident

August 1960

State / country

IL / US

Page count

3 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 39

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 3

View transcribed text

PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD

1. DATE
August 1960

2. LOCATION
Essex, Illinois

12. CONCLUSIONS
Chaff
Probably Balloon
Possibly Balloon
Was Aircraft
Probably Aircraft
Possibly Aircraft
Was Astronomical
Probably Astronomical
Possibly Astronomical
XXXXX Chaff
Insufficient Data for Evaluation
Unknown

3. DATE-TIME GROUP
Last
GMT

4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION
Ground-Visual
Air-Visual
Air-Intercept Rdar
Ground-Radar

12. CONCLUSIONS
Chaff

5. SOURCE
Civilian

6. NUMBER OF OBJECTS
multiple

9. COURSE
found on ground

7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION
not reported

8. PHOTOS
Yes Physical
No Specimen

10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING
Foil strips sent to Chanute AFB for possible identification. Desired to know how these strips got into the fields.

11. COMMENTS
Physical specimens of foil identified as chaff used in Radar jamming.

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28988071