Forsyth, Montana (4613N 10640W), February 1961February 1961

Insufficient Data

Summary

On February 6, 1961, between about 2105 and 2135 (9:05 to 9:35 p.m.) local, an observer at Forsyth, Montana reported a round, bright white object that turned red as it got farther away. It was about twice as big as a star. It was first seen at about 80 degrees elevation and 210 degrees azimuth.

The object moved from overhead toward the west, back to the north, then west again. It went down to the horizon at about 240 degrees and disappeared below it. The sighting lasted about 30 minutes.

The Air Force conclusion was probably astronomical. The comment says the object's position matched that of the planet Venus for the date and time, taken from the 1961 almanac, and concludes the witness was viewing Venus, with atmospheric refraction and the planet's extreme brightness as contributing factors.

Reported location

Forsyth, Montana (4613N 10640W), February 1961

Date of incident

February 1961

State / country

? / XX

Page count

5 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 41

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 5

View transcribed text

f
1 | | BAR PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD  .,
| \ DATE 2 LOCATION "T'2 CoNcLUSIONS
O Was Boll
6 Feb 61 Forsyth, Montana (4613N 10640W o Probably Bolloon
3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION Ey —— |
I a iii XGround- Visual O Ground-Rodar ; a Probably Aircr ofr
GMT Q704057 O Air Visual 0 Air-Intercept Radar DO Possibly Aircraft
; 5. PHOTOS . SOURCE O Was Astronomical :
O Yes O Probably Astronomical
of No | YIEOS OVI A f XD Possibly Astronomical Venus
"7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION | 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE |D Other
; 0 Insufficient Dete for Evaluation
0 Unknown
30 Min. | 1 | W then N then
10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTINGRound, bright white 11. COMMENTSPOosition of this objt as given |
| (farther away it got, it turned red). 2 times |by witness coincides w/Venus for time
: bigger than star. First observed 80° elevationjand date. Info for position of Venus is
PLO° azimuth, Disappeared down to horizon 240°|taken from the 1961 Almanac. Fm witnesses
| position planet would have set at OL35Z.
| It is FTD conclusion that witness was vipw-
ing Venus and that atmospheric refractich
and extreme brightness of planet (mag- |
nitude -4.2) were contributing factors
F-. to misidentification. A/c reported to be
4 in general area at time were probably cop-
1 tributing factors also.
ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)
FE $e /
1 :
] ER as He rn : ! '

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28991344