Fairborn, OhioAugust 1960

Insufficient Data

Summary

On August 16, 1960, at 2:00 a.m. local time, an observer in Fairborn, Ohio, spotted an unusual object in the night sky. The object appeared as a bluish-white to faded yellow light with what looked like rays, accompanied by two smaller starlike dots that seemed to trail behind it. The object remained visible for more than 40 minutes.

During the sighting, the object displayed several striking behaviors. It appeared to stand still at times, then seemed to explode and give off smoke. Its brightness changed noticeably throughout the observation. As it moved northwest, its elevation angle above the horizon increased from 5 to 12 degrees. The object did not simply vanish, but remained in view for the full duration of the watch.

The Air Force investigated the sighting and concluded that the objects were likely the bright star Altair, also known as Alpha Aquilae, along with two fainter nearby stars. This astronomical explanation accounts for the starlike appearance, the color, the steady position, and the multiple objects observed together in the sky. The case file contains 10 pages of documentation held by the National Archives.

Reported location

Fairborn, Ohio

Date of incident

August 1960

State / country

OH / US

Page count

10 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 39

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 10

View transcribed text

!
i
i " PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD | |
1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
16 Aug 60 Fairborn, Ohio 3G Probebly Bellon
| 3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4 TYPE OF OBSERVATION wom em
DI ise esse R Ground- Visual O Ground-Rodar a Srobaily Aver oft
GMT 17/02002 O AieVisvel O Air-Intercop? Redor O Possibly Aircraft
S. PHOTOS o O Wes Astronomical
a Yes fl Probably Astronomicel Altair
B Ne | Civilian ; O Possibly Astronomical
| 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE CJ —
THEE E O Insufficient Dato for Evaluation
did not disappear ane NW? G Unknown
gE Rh Bete RRR | ORBAN cos BILTON | EAN iors: AGORA PRR
10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGNTING 1). COMMENTS
Two starlike dots with larger object which It is possible that the objects were
seemed to trail the dots, color bluish-white the star Alpha Aquila (Altair) mag 0.9
to faded yellow. Cbject appeared as a light and two smaller stars.
: with rays. It appeared to stand still, explode,
Zive off smoke, change brightness. The eleva-
tica increased 5-12° as it proceeded NW. Object
still visible after 40 nin after initial
sighting.
ATIC FORM 329 (RFV 26 SEP $2)
EE a cbs asa 1 id

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28988218