Lebanon, OhioMarch 1963

Unidentified

Summary

On March 22, 1963, at 6:35 a.m. in Lebanon, Ohio, a civilian observer reported seeing an object moving north with a light and tail going south, then moving rapidly. The object was red and gold in color and was last seen going south. The observer was at 45 degrees elevation or less moving away from the observer toward the northeast. The object was smaller than the moon. The sighting lasted 10 minutes. One object was observed. The Air Force contacted Sulphur Grove Balloon Launch at 0600 local on March 22. A balloon launched at 0600 local, initially heading south generally with winds from 340 to 330 degrees azimuth. A radiosonde package would have been in the area near Lebanon. Since the witness was in a car and the balloon was rising, an error in reporting the direction of flight was assumed. The case was considered a balloon observation. Subsequent contact with the witness indicated that the description of the balloon fits the object and the explanation is satisfactory.

Reported location

Lebanon, Ohio

Date of incident

March 1963

State / country

OH / US

Page count

2 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 47

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 2

View transcribed text

PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD

1. DATE: 22 March 1963
2. LOCATION: Lebanon, Ohio
12. CONCLUSIONS: [X] Was Balloon [ ] Probably Balloon [ ] Possibly Balloon [ ] Was Aircraft [ ] Probably Aircraft [ ] Possibly Aircraft [ ] Was Astronomical [ ] Probably Astronomical [ ] Possibly Astronomical [ ] Other [ ] Insufficient Data for Evaluation [ ] Unknown

3. DATE-TIME GROUP: Local 0635, GMT 22/11352
4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION: [X] Ground-Visual [ ] Ground-Radar [ ] Air-Visual [ ] Air-Intercept Radar
5. PHOTOS: [ ] Yes [X] No
6. SOURCE: Civilian
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION: 10 minutes
8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS: one
9. COURSE: Up, NE

10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING: Observer driving North observed object with a light and tail going SE. Rose rapidly. Color red & gold. Last seen going South. Observer at 45 deg elevation or less moving away from observer to NE. Less than size of moon.

11. COMMENTS: Contacted Sulphur grove. Balloon launched at 0600 local. Flight to south generally w/winds from 340-330 azimuth. Carried radiosonde package & would have been in area near Lebanon. Since witness was in car & balloon was rising assumed error in rpting direction of flight. Case considered as balloon obvatipn Subsequent contact with witness indicates that description of bal-loon fits obj & explanation satisf[illegible]

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 29000458