Evanston, IllinoisMay 1963

Unidentified

Summary

On the evening of May 15, 1963, in Evanston, Illinois, a witness observed a solid object with lights accompanied by a low humming sound. The object appeared directly overhead and was visible for about three minutes before disappearing toward the northwest. The witness's first impression was that it might be an advertising blimp, though no letters or markings were visible on the object.

The Air Force investigated the sighting and concluded the object was a confirmed aircraft equipped with an electric advertising light. The case file notes that the sighting was viewed on a subsequent night by Dr. J. Allen Hynek, a prominent astronomer who consulted with the Air Force on UFO matters.

The full case file, comprising 10 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.

Reported location

Evanston, Illinois

Date of incident

May 1963

State / country

IL / US

Page count

10 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 47

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 10

View transcribed text

3; PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD |
; I. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
4 : Lr O Wos Balloon
£ 15> May 1963 Evanston, Illinois o Biel Halieen
TCT TET TT ToT Ee ETE TT pr ro  eraeet) Me oll tarllalatae od AE US AS) 8] o0ssi b4 al oon i
3. DATE oh 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION Jdver t ising Light |
A ‘ 5 fi as Aircraft i
3 Loco ciOQ © © 0 XDGround- Vi sual DO Ground-Radar i: Prabably Alverets |
fF CMT 16/ 040027 0 Air Visual O Air-Intercept Radar O Possibly Aircraft |
3 5. PHOTOS ET EE FT (011) 1] = 0 Was Astronomical |
IE O Yes O Probably Astronomical |
| Ne Civilian O Possibly Astronomical
RT TT I TT oO a A ea Tomer eso A ee en AR SEER retort SE SHE Ne SOS SE,
I 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE [a [58 (0)} (ARE el REO a
; O Insufficient Data for Evaluation |
: ” oo 0 Unknown I
3 minutes one Northwest
: RE TE EE eee el oe i el i
: 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS
i. Solid object with lights accompanied Confirmed a/c with an electric
: by low humming sound observed to advertising light. Viewed on
disappear in the NW after a three subsequent night by Dr. J. Allen
{ minute observation, Flight erratic Hynek,
First impression was that object was
an advertising dirigible. No letters
visible, Directly overhead at sighting,
ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)
J 7
~ v J -
|
/ |
. 1 /

/ 10

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 29000814