Joliet, IllinoisApril 1963

Unidentified

Summary

In April 1963, a resident of Joliet, Illinois reported seeing an object in the night sky that he described as breaking apart into seven separate pieces and performing various maneuvers. The witness filed his formal report with the U.S. Air Force in November 1963, more than seven months after the sighting. The Air Force forwarded the case with a designation of "Unidentified" in February 1964.

The Air Force's investigation revealed significant problems with the report. The witness provided vague and inconsistent information. Critical details were missing, including the direction the object was moving and how long he observed it. The witness estimated the object's speed at 500 mph, but this figure appeared to contradict the movement patterns he described. He was also 81 years old at the time he filed the report, which the Air Force noted in its file. The long delay between the sighting and the report, combined with these gaps and contradictions, made thorough evaluation difficult.

In its final assessment, the Air Force placed the case in the "Conflicting Data" category. The agency concluded that nothing in the witness's account ruled out a misidentified conventional object or natural phenomenon such as a star or balloon. The case remained classified as unidentified, but without supporting evidence to identify what was actually seen.

The full case file, consisting of 13 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.

Reported location

Joliet, Illinois

Date of incident

April 1963

State / country

IL / US

Page count

13 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 47

PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD | 1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS : Atrrd dl : 5 § D Was Balloon 3 April 1963 Joliet, Illinois 0 Probably Balloon . | 3 DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION Er Lessmy. Aolloon i Celie es 1 Ground- Visual DO Ground-Rodor 0 Wes Ai eroft | O Probably Aircraft GM Te 00 2305 0 Air Visual O Air-Intercept Rodor DO Possibly Aircraft 5. PHOTOS . SOURCE 8. Wis Astiensmicd) | : 0 Yes OD Probably Astronomical : XB No Civilia DO Possibly Astronomical | 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE d Other_Unreliabls Rent : 0 Insufficient Data for Evaluation ! Not Reported Seven Not Reported |P Unknown | CLE eR le a per Se CCE RE 1 SE Ne et be IE LAN ALA SR 10, BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING : 11. COMMENTS Colizet sighted oreaking up into 7 objects and Form filled in during November 1963 fore reriorming various menuvers, Sighting during warded tc AF in Feb 1964 of sighting in Gaye. witness indicated otjedt might have been RMpril 1963. Witness nov 1h yrs old. & star. so conflicting data and essential data : missing. ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)