Littleton, ColoradoAugust 1960

Insufficient Data

Summary

On August 20, 1960, an observer in Littleton, Colorado watched what appeared to be a tear drop-shaped object about the size of a basketball for twenty to thirty minutes. The object hung low in the sky, roughly 45 degrees above the horizon, and seemed to descend very slowly. One arm extended from its upper left section, tipped with two glowing white lights that appeared to come from an internal source. The witness used Japanese binoculars to get a closer look.

The observer was part of a small group that had gathered to watch Echo 1, a communications satellite expected to pass overhead that evening. Only one witness was interviewed in depth. The other members of the group could not be located, which limited what investigators could determine.

The Air Force launched a search right away. First Lieutenant Jack McHorner, a pilot, took off at approximately 8:35 p.m. and climbed to various altitudes while circling Littleton in a wide arc. He saw nothing unusual. Ground checks with Martin Aircraft in Denver, nearby weather stations, Lowry Air Force Base, and Buckley Air National Guard Base all turned up negative. No aircraft, balloons, or other objects matching the description were known to be in the area.

However, investigators noticed something interesting. The planet Jupiter was positioned in the direction reported by the witness at the time of the sighting, shining at magnitude 2.0 (quite bright). When checked against the witness's reported bearing and elevation angle, Jupiter's location matched closely. The limited information available, combined with Jupiter's prominence in the evening sky that night, led Air Force analysts to conclude that the object was probably the planet Jupiter, viewed under atmospheric conditions that may have made it appear to have unusual features. The full case file is held by the National Archives and reproduced below, spanning 108 pages.

Reported location

Littleton, Colorado

Date of incident

August 1960

State / country

CO / US

Page count

108 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 39

4 | | | 1 : PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD | 1 1. DATE ° 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS i 20 Aug 60 Littleton, Colorado o Srsetly Belivon ] 3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4 TYPE OF OBSERVATION Vv — 3 OS J | ©. + — of Ground-Visuel O Ground-Roder Pa Reverets b GMT 21/02C0Z O Air Visvel O Air-intercop? Rodor O Possibly Aircraft BE 5. PHOTOS » SOUR O Was Astronomical : a Yes D Probably Astronomical E # Ne Civilian : O Possibly Astronomicel b i... wy ~~ 77 JE 4 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE TRL — —— 4 OX Insufficient Date for Evaluation | 20-30 min one descending w — PE 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS : | Light white, size of basketball, shape of tear | The object was in View for 20-30 min with if drcp. Cbject had cne arm extending from the very little or no movement. Only cone wit- 3 upper left segment. Extending arm had two ness was interviewed, and the others bl lights on it. These lights were light white, apparently could not bé located. The E and seemed to be from an internal scurce. information reported is limited in nature g Appeared 45° above horizom, 122° from observer.| precluding a valid conclusion. However, p Seemed to be descending very slowly. there is a strong possibility that the E witness observed the planet Jupiter 9 (mag -2.0) which was in a direction of 4 170°T at the time of the sighting and at 3 an elev of 30°. : ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP $2) }