Los Angeles, CaliforniaFebruary 1963

Unidentified

Summary

On February 11, 1963, a civilian in Los Angeles, California, reported a strange vapor trail in the sky. The sighting was made between 5:49 and 5:55 p.m. local time. The observer was at the corner of Beverly and Vermont. The trail appeared about 50 miles to the west northwest.

The trail stayed in one place and looked tilted vertically. The sky was clear with unlimited visibility. The sighting lasted about 6 minutes.

A missile had been launched in the Pacific Missile Range at 4:45 p.m. local time. The Air Force, in its Project 10073 record, concluded the trail was a contrail from that missile.

Reported location

Los Angeles, California

Date of incident

February 1963

State / country

CA / 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

Re: .

£

|

g

5 PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD
5 1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS

i

i O Was Balloon

fr li Februarv 1963 Los Angeles, California O Probably Balloon

E 3 ——1 0 Possibly Balloon

: . DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION

: ! Local re ar 0 10 or Ge X Bround- Visual O Ground-Radar a bh rats |
5 GMT 0 AirVisudl O Air-Intercept Radar D Possibly Aireraft
& 5. PHOTOS | 6. SOURCE O Was Astronomical |
i O Yes 0 Probably Astronomical !
@ No Civilian O Possibly Astronomical

Be 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION | 8 NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE Bx Other Contrails —

a i 10 Insufficient Data for Evaluation

ga EE 2 | | Eran E Unknown

a 6 minutes | ona | stationary

g 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING n. COMMENTS

i Wierd vapor trail observed about 50 | Missile launched from Pacific
£ miles west southwest of observer, missile range prior to sighting,

123 : 2 : )) 3
# Sighting believed to be contrails
from this missile,

E

: |
BE ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)
i
& 7 1]

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 29000249