Ft. Bliss, TexasMay 1961

Unidentified

Summary

On May 10, 1961, a military witness saw an object near Fort Bliss, Texas, around 8 p.m. (local). The sighting lasted about 38 minutes. The object's course varied.

The object first looked comet like, with a trail pointing to the southwest. When it appeared to hover, the trail disappeared and the object became an egg or doughnut shape. The head looked about the size of a dime, with a diameter about equal to the length of a B-52 fuselage and an overall size larger than a blimp. Its color was golden in flight and khaki brown when hovering. The trail looked about twice the size of the object.

The Air Force noted that the first magnitude star Altair lay in the direction the witness indicated. Altair was just below the horizon and was probably visible only because of an inversion in the area. The report suggested that aircraft in the area may also have contributed to the sighting.

Reported location

Ft. Bliss, Texas

Date of incident

May 1961

State / country

TX / US

Page count

5 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 42

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 5

View transcribed text

E PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD
! oF —— ————————————————
1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
0 Wos Balloon
10 Mey 61 Ft. Bliss, Texas 00 Probably Balloon
Be 1 fue DLLSS5, LEaAaS 0 Possibly Bolloon
3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION
2000) ; 2 0 Wos Aircraft
PT Ro, © Ra XX Ground- Visual O Ground-Radar a Probably Assert
\ GMT 1105007 0 Air Visual 0 Air-Intercept Radar O Possibly Aircralt
i 5. PHOTOS . SOURCE BB Assssatend: LYRE
§ O Yes O Probobly Astronomical
1 a No Milita y OD Possibly Astronomical
: 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE 0 OME
O Insufficient Data for Evaluation
5 : 0 Unknown
: 38 min 1 Varied
; RE ; 11. COMMENTS 4 ure dk ;
10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING Comet -11ke bjt with OWMENTSDipst magnitude star Altair
trail pointing to SW. When in hover trail dis-| was in direction indicated by witness
appeared, became egg-in doughnut-shape. Size for objt. Altair was just below horizon
4 of head nd a dime. Diameter appeared equal to | and was probably able to be seen only
length of B-52 fuselage. Overall size larger |due to the inversion which was in area
+e a 144 ta T = . 59 2 pe p en - 2 Pe: 2 A a;
When & blimp. Color was golden in flight; at time, It is possible that afc in
khaki brown when in a hover. Trail appeared to| area contributed somewhat to sighting, Hut
wires +hoe adie * 1.4 o & . . . MN
be twice the size of objt. First appeared ill-| it is believed that star was real culprdt.
URLRaLe. Appeared and disappeared several Consistency of times, directions and
i times. descriptions on subsequent nights sub-
: stantiatee this conclusion.
&
a | ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)
§
3
/
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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28992449