Las Vegas, New MexicoOctober 1961

Insufficient Data

Summary

On October 15, 1961, a civilian near Las Vegas, New Mexico called the U.S. Air Force to report something unusual in the sky. The observer used binoculars and looked at an object with the naked eye around 0613 (6:13 a.m.). The object appeared round and amber colored, about as bright as the planet Venus. It was located roughly 240 degrees azimuth (looking roughly west-southwest) and about 40 degrees above the horizon. The object seemed to revolve or spin as the witness watched. It moved in a west-southwest direction and faded from view behind the horizon much like the sun would set. The whole sighting lasted about 8 minutes.

The Air Force investigator noted that an atmospheric inversion existed in the area at the time of the sighting. An inversion is a layer of warm air trapped above cooler air, which can bend light and distort how objects appear. The observer reported no lateral movement of the object, which is consistent with something stationary. The investigator concluded that the object was probably the planet Jupiter. The description of a bright, colored object that appears distorted by the atmosphere matched what would be expected if someone were observing Jupiter through layers of air near the horizon.

Weather conditions at the time showed clear skies with visibility greater than 15 miles. The temperature profile and wind data were recorded at various altitudes. The case was forwarded from Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico to the Air Force Technical Intelligence Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.

The full case file containing 35 pages is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.

Reported location

Las Vegas, New Mexico

Date of incident

October 1961

State / country

NM / US

Page count

35 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 44

4 : E en A PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD “a : i 1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS 1 a pi ; O Was Balloon 4 14 Oct 61 les Vegas, New Mexico DO Probably Balloen EL 3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4 TYPE OF OBSERVATION JE ERany RIIon) 1 Lseal idan ove ol “83 Ground-Yisval 0 Ground-Raodor 0 Was Aircraft RE 0 Probebly Aircraft 3 RR LT D AirYisuol O Air-Intercept Radar | DO Possibly Aircraft 5. PHOTOS . SOURCE TT |0_ Was Astronomical) {17 . Es rreks 3 0 Yes 0X Probably oho 3 AD Ne Civilian DO Possibly Astronomical 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE Gh Oya ati Cae bE 0 Insufficient Data for Evaluation 3 : : Se 0 Unknown L 8 min 1 WSW 1 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING |"). COMMENTS A i : i Oojt responsible for sighting was probably plant Jupiter. Description given by witness E is that which is characteristic of z planct or ptar distorted by atmospheric refraction. EE Reports state that an inversion existed in areal during time of sighting. Witness never E reported any lateral velocity. Due to fact that| sighting took place in a mountainous area 3 this Tact ppobably indicates that objt was lst peen at an elev of 10° but this probably i an error made by typist, copying 10° as 40°. EE All evidence indicated that objt responsible fof sighting was probably planet Jupiter. : E: ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52) i ] \ pi ;