McALLEN, TEXAS 2645N 9815W, October 1961October 1961

Insufficient Data

Summary

On October 26, 1961, a military mission pilot near McAllen, Texas, reported an object at about 7:10 local time. The pilot was rated reliable. The object was brilliant white, with a red glowing color toward the rear and a trail about ten times the length of the object. One object was seen. It moved on a flat, straight path from east-southeast to west-northwest. The tail appeared to be caused by the object breaking apart. The sighting lasted about 20 seconds. The weather was clear above the clouds. The Air Force noted the west-northwest direction ruled out a satellite reentry. It listed the case as a probable fireball of long duration, a meteor or rocket body entering the atmosphere.

Reported location

McALLEN, TEXAS 2645N 9815W, October 1961

Date of incident

October 1961

State / country

? / XX

Page count

6 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 44

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 6

View transcribed text

1s |
1 J
1 PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD
3 1. DATE > 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
E- 1) % ef Pg a
J 0 ji rye hi CEN Pal £XAS 0 Was Balloon
3 26 Oct 61 2645) 93815W 0 Probably Bolloon
E 3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION 0: FORNEY. PRIooh
E 710
3 Local ——— 0 Ground-VYisudl 0 Ground-Radar a Probably Air Siok
3 TE TARE 4 ASA RSLS Tas TAir Visual O Air-Intercept Radar 0 Possibly Aircraft :
5. PHOTOS + SOURCE 0 Was Astronomical FTC £-
e 0 Yes F0< Probably Astronomical
4 No Military 0 Possibly Astronomical
4 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE on fel 0] 1) vy ee TR LS ST SRN
| 0D Insufficient Data for Evaluation
a i ; Le 0 Unknown
i 20 sec 1 Whi :
. 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING OD Jt brilliant white wit). COMMENTS Probable observation of fireball
3 red glowing color @ to rear trail 10 times lengfh of long duration. Direction of WHW rules
i Flat trajectory and straight path fm ESE to WNW]out satellite reentry.
Tail appeared to be caused by fragmentation of
4 bojt.
4 ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 BEP $2) :
8
i

/ 6

Use ← → keys to navigate · scans hosted by the U.S. National Archives

Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28995347