Fontana, CaliforniaAugust 1961

Insufficient Data

Summary

In August 1961, someone in Fontana, California submitted three photographs to the U.S. Air Force, claiming they showed a flying saucer. The Air Force's Foreign Technology Division at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio examined the images.

Photo analysts concluded that the object in the pictures was small and had been photographed at very close range. They determined that the photographs showed either long outdoor exposures or indoor shots taken with light coming from sharply different angles. The technical details of how the photos were taken made it impossible for the object to actually be a flying saucer.

The analysts' final judgment was blunt: the photographs were a deliberate hoax. They were an intentional attempt to mislead people about what the object actually was. The Air Force returned the photographs to the sender with a brief note explaining that focus was poor and details were missing, but offering no further comment on their origin or purpose.

The full case file, consisting of 8 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.

Reported location

Fontana, California

Date of incident

August 1961

State / country

CA / US

Page count

8 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 43

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 8

View transcribed text

EET F v Tem a
 - : SE —
i B P yA A RARE TASH Tg nes hid
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[4
«nnn : PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD
° 2
| 1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
; August 1961 Foutana, California Q Wes Batioon
i Si of ; *) 0 Probably Balloon
| | NR es aR H '
i 3. DATE-TIME GROUP 3. TYPE OF OBSERVATION 3 Foumny, Seren |
¢ LB] iia iia 0 Ground- Visual O Ground-Rodar 0 Wos Avera
i QO Probably Aircraft
BE NRRL RAR a Air Visval B Rivinveccoss Rader [0 Possitly Alrereit
ARR (Aon hao A nin ASTER SERT Rs hr fred bE
5. PHOTOS 3. SOURCE f) Was Astronomical
<0 Yes Civilian 0 Probably Astronomical
O Ne es op ; D Possibly Astronomico!
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 3. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE pe Rito i bhi ibuihsioiy
on 0 Insufficient Dota for Evaluation
one 0 Unknown
Ee et rt -
i 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS
| 3 photos received at ATIC of supposed Pictures sent to photo analysis.
flying saucer. The object was small ana photographed
| at close rahge. They were the
result of long exposure outdoors
or indoor exposures with the light
| from radically different angles,
| either of which would preclude the
object being a {lying saucer. Pnoto
was a deliberate attempt to mislead
the true identity of the cbject.
FRNA,
A
pi a AA dint
¢ § ’ .
£ i / :
| 4 -

/ 8

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28993780