Fort Worth, TexasJanuary 1961

Unidentified

Summary

On January 9 through 15, 1961, multiple witnesses at and near Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas reported seeing unusual objects in the sky. The case file primarily focuses on a sighting by military and civilian observers at Fort Worth on January 10, 1961.

On that date, several people at Carswell Air Force Base near Fort Worth observed a round object that was much brighter than Venus and appeared to glow white before turning to a dull red as it traveled across an overcast sky. The witnesses said the object appeared at about 5 degrees above the western horizon and disappeared at roughly 20 degrees, traveling at an estimated speed of 1,000 miles per hour or faster. The sighting lasted approximately 54 minutes by watch.

The Air Force interviewed multiple witnesses, including military officers and civilians. One observer had previously watched the satellite ECHO 1 and estimated that the unidentified object was moving faster than that known satellite. Another witness was inside a building when he first saw the object through a window, then went outside to observe it further. No shadows were cast by the object's brightness. Weather records indicated that an overcast layer extended from about 13,200 to 22,290 feet over North Texas at the time of the sighting.

The Air Force's investigation, recorded in a message from Carswell Air Force Base, concluded that the witnesses had probably been observing the planet Venus. The file notes that Venus was indeed visible at that time and location, with a brightness magnitude of minus 3.9, and was just setting on the western horizon as described by the observers. The weather conditions reported by the witnesses, with overcast skies, were favorable for a mirage effect of the planet. Despite the sighting's duration and the consistency of witness descriptions, the Air Force attributed the observation to a natural astronomical phenomenon rather than an unidentified object. The case was marked "unidentified" on the initial case card, though the detailed investigation reached a conclusion of probable planet identification. The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, comprising 11 scanned pages.

Reported location

Fort Worth, Texas

Date of incident

January 1961

State / country

TX / US

Page count

11 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 41

; i od j PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD 1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS SC na oe Se at 1 : 0 Woes Balloon ll Jan Ol rort Worth, Texas 0 Probably Balloon ee ——— a — > Se es 2s ee eR bein 5 ggg yr amg ——— et 2 ——— 5 ——————— ——— a et 4 (] 545i Be H 3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION Possibly Balicon AANA : ” 0 Was Aircraft CoS 0 H - 5 | [IH © un -Rad RIE a Br i sti iain cicabioi. Ground-Visua round-Rodar (0 Probably Aircraft E Es late Yala ty M -t : Lh PE B16 )2(0 0 ANNI TRO OQ Air-Visual 0 Air-Intercept Radar B Possibly Aircraft | 5. PHOTOS 8. SOURCE 0 Was Astronomical 1'¢ A : a Yes 3 Probably Astronomical & No | Civilian J Possibly Astronomicel 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION | 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE BF IITUIE seimisissimtrinsi sissies 0 insufficient Deta for Evaluation 0 Unknown p ~ ~ ’e . rr TL EEE: SN FSSC SRE SENSO mi TSR 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTINGRound object, 0-7 times [1). COMMENTST: i. concluded that the witneds brighter than Evening star (Venus), bright probebly was watching a nirage of the | 7aite turning to dull red as it traveled VW. planet Venus, The direction of the objet j 7 A UE ol RTL FTL SE SRS NNO] nit RE IR " fu a ‘ib Ho : Soe overcast sky. Sighted--05° azimuth, 270°| coincides with that of the planst at thd . no § a ~~ A a8 a 0 Vw Yo JE GET J I oY iatd i aha g 3 ad ali : ‘e fregietic, Llsappeared--20° azimuth, 270 mag- [time of the si ting. Venus was of a ha ade 3 ed $mad a a) x 71 ANN es) nibs Yam de ds ow ca if N. Py TRE. Re 2 wo N » : etic, Kstlmated speed--1000zph or better. magnitude of -3,9 and Just setting at 3 | the time of the sighting. The weather cch- ditions, as described, are favorable fo1 | the mirage. This object was rrobably tie | planet Venus, ATIC FORM 323 (REV 26 SEP 52) ! [1 . - . AE i 2 .