Hallott Station, Antarctica, June 1962June 1962

Insufficient Data

Summary

# Summary

On June 7, 1962, around 1:05 a.m., the commanding officer at Hallett Station in Antarctica observed a bright white light in the southwestern sky. The light appeared roughly 20 times brighter than a first-magnitude star, positioned at a bearing of 250 degrees and an elevation of about 30 degrees. The observer used 7x50 binoculars to get a closer look. He described the light as circular, roughly 9 to 10 inches in diameter, with a dazzling quality like sunlight reflecting off polished gold. The sun was below the horizon at the time, and no smoke or vapor trail was visible.

The light remained stationary for approximately five minutes. It then moved slowly in a southerly direction and disappeared behind a nearby mountain peak. The observer noted that the object did not reappear on the other side of the peak as would be expected if it had simply continued on its course. In the nights that followed, the area was scanned repeatedly for any sign of the object or similar phenomena, but nothing further was sighted.

The Air Force concluded that the sighting was most likely a misidentification of the planet Jupiter, distorted by atmospheric conditions. At the time of the observation, Jupiter was the brightest astronomical object visible from Hallett Station, with a magnitude of minus 2.0. The reported bearing and the southerly movement matched Jupiter's position and apparent motion from that location. However, the Air Force noted a significant discrepancy: Jupiter's actual elevation at the time was less than five degrees, well below the observer's estimate of 30 degrees. The investigators suggested the witness had misjudged the angle, and that an atmospheric inversion (a layer of warm air trapping cooler air below it) may have created mirage effects that contributed to the sighting.

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

Reported location

Hallott Station, Antarctica, June 1962

Date of incident

June 1962

State / country

? / XX

Page count

8 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 45

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 8

View transcribed text

P

3 , :

E .

] PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD

4 1. DATE | 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS |
Li 5d i

3 1 {
i | |o Yas Balloon

4 — ES | Hallet 3tati Fay {0 Probably Balloon

: eee eee ee ee eee ee eee eee eee ef) Possibly Balloon

4 3. DATE-TIMZ GROUP ks TYPE OF OBSERVATION ; hd
I : : 0 Was Aircraft
| ocal > O.CGround- 0 Ground-Ra : ‘ A

1 | {A LE NDE CR eR 0. Cround- Visual round-Radar {1 Probably Aircraft

E ; Pasa BH : IN

3 GMT. 8 § EH GE Tye ial | 0 Air Visual 0 Air-Intercept Radar 0 Possibly Aircraft
1 5. PHOTOS 8. SOURCE 1 0 Was Astronomical !

. 0 Yes © Probably Astronomical

I No Mili 0 Possibly Astronomical

: 7. LENGTH OF CBSERVATION 8. MUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE | EEE D4 1 | at ee re ry CA AWS A ORAL

3 0 Insufficient Data for Evaluation
i a Unknown
A tyra tha LF Mine i " Yesit ¥ :

1 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING il. COMMENTS
EF an of rthich the lescr I ‘Aas Brion th 31 Se ~ 00 3 1 J i

: b r EORL wie : Pisin + rye y 3 PT 1 v rye Jaf t 1 oy '

o YA 5 “A - 4 269 wd ‘a 2° . | ’ LE Va . . " A ’ i

4 ) aporox older 2 Ob gas obhsvd fo 31 * ire i ;

3 probable resulted 1 11 1isidentification Bl of ] 1 Jupite SE Wo i
; jistortion of that body by inconssstengie X33 th vEmos, 1e ptd azinuti
3 SR ops & that of planet 8t the tme of © sighting are very nearly same.

[ he vitnesses rptd the obj moved slowvin Southerl iirectic which is |

i pame 25 the apparent motion of Jupiter|when viewed fm Hallett Ethas

: time & dat Si AT the time of the sicghti y Jupi Sr was “ne brighte 5 15 01

3 dv -2,0mag, whic >ild be seen fm Hallett, Jupiter's elev at the time]
5 q 3 . cir fb Inner wae ) ~ 4 my a 3. Far * my - 1.9 y+ 1 3 we ye byns [}

> . - FX Llp Ada 1. 2 Lill \ oh og «td 1 Lil il A Lo ted ) Core Ay .

: itnesses for the indicated that hel obi pa vd hehind a yi ET pe ble!

3 E - LIE558 7 GO Hp a Led «QQ at TU : YD.3 PASSE > ! J i a moj te {5 |
3 lis far, as ‘can be determined the nearqgslt mount peaks lwe glevs of 1 JR |
E | taar Sdor when asured 1 Hallett Lt 1s ne "Ny opinion ‘that the w
E- E gp ‘5 e + Ey Sg lng : Gide ya ah lglins bedant ed a A rs ne Be Fas GE Mad oh peli oF of ag Ed .
i DDS CSL LINELE QO) eC 4&0 was in YX LQL } 1132.0 DLY nat SLrong LEVI

: feks sent in area af time ciohtine. 0 nl F miraos nzaociated wZthi |
ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 8EP 52) 100 CORLIloule LO S151LLNs.
J

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28997594