Mesa, ArizonaJune 1963

Insufficient Data

Summary

In June 1963, a witness in Mesa, Arizona reported seeing an unusual object during the early evening hours. The sighting lasted approximately 25 minutes.

The witness observed an elongated, cigar shaped object with a silvery dollar appearance. The object was brown in color except for a propeller, which was silver. The propeller bisected the body at the center, with the body itself serving as the hub. Using British government surplus binoculars, the witness noted that the magnification brought the object closer but did not increase its apparent size.

The object moved gradually toward the southwest, floating or gliding in a straight path. Wind data from rawinsonde observations (weather balloons used to measure upper atmosphere conditions) taken at nearby Tucson, Arizona showed winds at various altitudes between 15 and 55 knots, predominantly from the southwest. The file investigation found no weather balloons or lighter-than-air craft were operating in the Mesa area at the time of the sighting.

The Air Force's final evaluation concluded that a sun dog (a type of optical phenomenon caused by light refracting through ice crystals in the atmosphere) was the most probable cause of the sighting. Lenticular clouds were observed in the area but were noted as unable to account for the object's reported movement.

The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, consisting of 67 pages of scanned documents.

Reported location

Mesa, Arizona

Date of incident

June 1963

State / country

AZ / US

Page count

67 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 48

| ’ y ht EEE PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD | Mg Sa | E |). pave 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS 1 0 Was Balloon | L Li June 1963 esa, Arizona D Probably Balloon "| 3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION 0 Possibly Belloan | i sk B O Was Aircroft | » 7 rm XE Grithd-Vi sual O Ground-Rodar Q Probably Airerofs | : Mr = 0 AirVisvel O Air-Intercopt Radar |D Possibly Aircraft g 3. PHOTOS o CE D Was Astronomical NE OVYes O Probably Astronomical 1 BNe civilian : O Possibly Astronomical i | 7-_LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE XX Other Sun Dog ~~ EF 25 min one SW 0 Insufficient Dota for Evaluation 3 0 Unknown | { [10. BRIEP SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS : "| See case file. Description of sighting indicates that | b a Sun Dog was the most probably cause. 1 i | 1 SKeTeH IN FLLE€ l | | ATIC FORM 379 (REV 20 8%P 37) 4 ; s co 1 b: | : [4 g 5 :