Goodlettsville, TennesseeDecember 1961

Insufficient Data

Summary

At 5:00 p.m. on December 29, 1961, two people traveling south on US Route 31W near Goodlettsville, Tennessee spotted what they believed were strange objects in the sky. The witnesses described the objects as cigar shaped, golden in color, and larger than aircraft. They observed what appeared to be vapor trails. One object was positioned at about 195 degrees and another at 155 degrees. The objects moved on a horizontal path from west to east and disappeared suddenly.

The witnesses called Wright Patterson Air Force Base from a roadside phone booth to report the incident. The witness later contacted the Air Force to ask whether an investigation had been conducted and what the results were.

In a response dated March 18, 1962, the Air Force evaluated the sighting as non-persistent condensation trails illuminated by sunlight. The objects appeared five times taller than they were wide because the trails were breaking apart as soon as they formed. Although the sun had set at ground level, the trails at high altitude were still being lit by the sun. The Air Force explained that condensation trails form when water vapor from aircraft engine exhaust mixes with cold air and creates visible moisture. The formation and persistence of these trails depends on humidity, pressure, and temperature. The color of the trails resulted from the way sunlight scattered off the water droplets.

The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives across 12 pages.

Reported location

Goodlettsville, Tennessee

Date of incident

December 1961

State / country

TN / US

Page count

12 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 44

pi - 4 g : PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD gins 1 hiss 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS | 1 get Ii . Ex 0) Wos Bolloon y ; 29 Dec 61 Goodlettsville, Tennessee 0 Probably Balloon i 3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION 3. Feurlny hutesn 4 1745 ¢ CG) a i 0 Wos Aircraft E Local SiR #0 Ground-Visual Ground-Rador GE Probobly Alveralt GMT _ 2 7/ 22402 D Air Visual 0 Air-Intercept Rodar 0 Possibly Aircraft 4 bE 5. PHOTOS . SOURCE O Was Astronomical 3 0 Yes 0 Probably Astronomicol 1 O"Neo Civilian 0 Possibly Astronomical 1 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS 9. COURSE oS 6) TT Ge tn RR ST SO Eo O Insufficient Dota for Evaluction 3 ESA ! ; Act 7 0 Unknown 5 5-15 sec 2 | SW and SE g 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTINGZ cigar shaped objts {11. COMMENTS Contrails and flignt character- E larger than a/ c. Golden color against pale blue istics indicate observation of a/c as 4 sky. Vapor trails. 1 objt 195° other 155° | orobable cause. 1 moving W-E on horizontal path. Disappeared ; J instantaneously. Looked like some form of a/c. | : ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52) 2 # o ' yy 5 ews