Hanksville, UtahSeptember 1962

Unidentified

Summary

On September 6, 1962, pilots on several airline flights reported a shiny silver object over Hanksville, Utah. The first report came from a Trans World Airlines pilot who saw the object fly parallel to his aircraft and stay in sight from Denver, Colorado, to Hector, California. At 2113Z the object was over Hanksville at about 75,000 to 80,000 feet, flying southwest at about 500 knots. The object had no clear shape, color, or trail described, and the pilot believed it was a planet.

Pilots on two other airline flights reported the same shiny silver object over the same area at 2124Z and 2132Z, also flying southwest at high altitude. None gave detailed shape or markings.

The report was filed under Project 10073, the Air Force's official record for unidentified flying object reports. The Air Force noted the planet Jupiter was in the southern sky and was the object most likely to be misinterpreted. Some considered the object to be a planet, since the westward movement matched aircraft flying west, which would keep the planet in the same position. The card listed the case as astronomical.

Reported location

Hanksville, Utah

Date of incident

September 1962

State / country

UT / US

Page count

5 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 46

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 5

View transcribed text

;
; -
PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD ;
I. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
] 0 Woes Balloon
6 September 1562 Hanksville, Utah a oii +44 fir Aol
SEER NT wlll” MATE ren 3s ASrr ERGSSINERGR OVO SSRTDURERETTORIG SHOU cc cb Fh dS trac Mrs oo TET ic REO :
1. DATE-TIME GROUP i. TYPE OF OBSERVATION MET WTERN
i 0D Was Aircraft
Leecal i pT 2 Ground-Visual O Ground-Rodor 0 Probably Aircraft
fs 7D) YT bh 2s = wi i
CMT 06/21307 REX Air Visuol 0 Air-Intercapt Rodar nd Possibly Aircraft
5. PMOTOS $. SOURCE B15 Was Astronomical Jupl Lor
i QO Yes 0 Probably Astronomical
- “Ne : Civilian TWA A # DO Possibly Astronomizal
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE Cad ERR EER
: O Insufficient Doto for Evaluation
0 Unknown
| Pel EC ER ES, i
|e BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS
| | Shiny silver object flying parallel to| Planet Jupiter in Southern sky
; "Ry ARE , 4F TR ad Ek ie To i a sw .
a/c tlying West at 81,000 feet. In most likely object to be misinter}
sight [rom Denver, Colorado, to Hector] preted. Reported by several pilots |
California, Pilot believed object was on various flights. Some consideted
planet, a planet as the object being oh-
served, Movement to West consis-
tent with this analysis, Since
jet was flying West the object wouid
retain its same position for the
duration of the flight.
ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)
i
aay :
4 | 4
El

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28998991