Mason, OhioJuly 1960

Insufficient Data

Summary

On the evening of July 8, 1960, someone in suburban Mason, Ohio reported seeing a bright light in the sky. The observer watched it for about thirty minutes, describing it as resembling a star but one that flickered and moved back and forth, up and down, in circular patterns. To the naked eye, the object appeared roughly the size of a pea held at arm's length.

The observer reported the sighting by phone to another person, who helped relay information to Air Force investigators. According to the case file, witnesses did not see the object disappear suddenly or behave in any way that seemed unusual beyond its movement.

When Air Force personnel reviewed the report, they checked astronomical charts to see if the sighting matched any known celestial objects. The investigation concluded that the object was almost certainly Arcturus, a first-magnitude star (one of the brightest stars visible to the naked eye). Arcturus was in the position in the sky that matched the observer's report. The file notes there was no reason to believe the object was anything other than this star.

The full case file, comprised of 21 pages held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.

Reported location

Mason, Ohio

Date of incident

July 1960

State / country

OH / US

Page count

21 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 38

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 21

View transcribed text

@ Co PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD |
E 1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS |
ren :
bi | QO Wes Bolloon
N 8 Jul 60 Mason, Ohio 0 Probebly Balloon
gy 3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4 TYPE OF OBSERVATION mY |
Ei) 204 O Was Aiicraft
TEER REA A O Ground-Rodar QO Probably Aireroft
: oMT____09/01L57 oll AR 0 Ain Visual O Air-Intercept Rador O Possibly Airersht :
yo 5 PHOTOS . RCE XX Was Astronomical Arcturus
} O Yes ~ O Probably Astronomica \
i 0 Ne Civilian 0 Possibly Astronomicol
# 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE 0 OMe
i o am Data for Evaluation
: 30 min one varied wm |
ETRE wf ER Ree NR, OCHS car RCSD F000. DUE hse CHINES NERA ORAURO ITER SEAM.
§ 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS
3 bright light like a star, flickered. appeared | A check of astro charts indicate the star
p 0 mova back and forth - up and down in circles,| Arcturus, a lst magnitude star, was in
i ize of a pea at arm's length, Sources did not |the position reported for the object.
s2 object dizappear. There i: no reasor to beliave the object
was Other than the star Arcturus.
; ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52) i
4 RAFAH) FRAY RE CRT RS i a a CN .
L Rs ex TASES i : : fs HA g
jo jo Jip
i § ! i bo

/ 21

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28987691