Ludlow, MassachusettsJanuary 1963

Insufficient Data

Summary

On January 17, 1963, a civilian in Ludlow, Massachusetts, reported a point of light in the night sky. The witness was sitting in a car when the object appeared. It looked red, like a pinhead, and varied in brightness from brilliant to invisible. It was first seen low in the sky, then rose and faded over about 12 minutes.

The object followed a straight, climbing path toward the north. Two other local residents also reported seeing it. This sighting was filed under Project 10073, the Air Force's official record for unidentified flying object reports.

The Air Force said the description matched an aircraft flight path. Officers noted that a red fuselage light blinks, though the witnesses denied seeing blinking. The record listed the conclusion as possibly a balloon, noting the blinking light, rising motion, and duration were consistent with a balloon.

Reported location

Ludlow, Massachusetts

Date of incident

January 1963

State / country

MA / US

Page count

3 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 47

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 3

View transcribed text

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| Ge 5 PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD Eh i
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; 1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS - |
i 4 Wos Balloon i
- 17 January 1963 Ludlow, Massachusetts 5 Adi ge then
| | 3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION ossibly Bolloon
: bigeq rust srs enniete ln dig S03 nS #%GCround- Visual 0 Ground-Radar = rales AAR | |
3 GMT 18/00552Z 0 Air Visual O Air-intercept Radar DO Possibly Aircraft i
: 5. PHOTOS 8. SOURCE O Was Astronomical |
i 0 Yes [mn] Probably-Astronomical
1 2%No Civilian O Possibly Astronomical
"| 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS 9. COURSE BF REE a
iE O Insufficient Data for Evaluation
9 i 2 3 w] Unknown
4 12 minutes one rising northward
10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS
F Object varying in intensity foom bril- | Only wind report was at lower
a liant to being invisible. First level from 200 dgr., However,
© | observed at 30 dgr elevation 135 dgr prevailing winds are to north
i azimuth, Disappeared at 80 dgr eleva- and east, Sighting characterisiic
3 tion 90 dgr azimuth rising and fading. | of balloon observation, Blinking
Total duration 12 minutes, Wind infor- | light rising & duration consis-
; mation garbled, tent with this analysis,
| ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 32) : {
3 d ; .
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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 29000123