Middletown, OhioSeptember 1961

Unidentified

Summary

On September 18, 1961, at 2:55 a.m., a civilian in Middletown, Ohio, observed a strange light in the sky through a window. The witness described the object as bright and strange-looking, moving in a northwesterly direction. During thirty minutes of observation, the object made no course changes and moved at a steady rate slightly south of due west and southwest. Using a telescope, the witness checked the angular dimension and found a squirrel at arm's length obscured the light. There was no moon and many stars were visible. The witness watched for several minutes to determine if it were a message. The object was examined through a 24-by-telescope. The witness could not detect a solid body but rather what appeared to be a transparent mass. The object was a very bright bluish-white with traces of red, green, and at times a mind purple. Using the telescope, the object looked very much like the one the witness reported to the Air Force in 1944, designated an unidentified object. There is a rough sketch of the object as viewed through the telescope. The Air Force evaluated the sighting as unidentified.

Reported location

Middletown, Ohio

Date of incident

September 1961

State / country

OH / US

Page count

3 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 43

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 3

View transcribed text

PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD

1. DATE
18 Sep 61

2. LOCATION
Middletown, Ohio

3. DATE-TIME GROUP
Loca 0255
GMT. 1807252

4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION
Ground-Visual
Air-Visual
Ground-Radar
Air-Intercept Radar

5. PHOTOS
Yes
No

6. SOURCE
Civilian

7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION
1/2 hr

8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS
1

9. COURSE
NW missing

15. CONCLUSIONS
Was Balloon
Probably Balloon
Possibly Balloon
Was Aircraft
Probably Aircraft
Possibly Aircraft
Was Astronomical S/G
Probably Astronomical
Possibly Astronomical
Insufficient Data for Evaluation
Unknown

10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING
[illegible] bright light in sky. [illegible] at one time it was something in the near view again. Having seemed to fall at a 70 deg angle at 114 on a watch it the thing was watching it again same of the thing appears about it lower, as I observed were clearly and made notes.

11. COMMENTS
[illegible] very slightly to study who. This is the observation I reported to Air Force or Flights. In my estimation that the one magnitude four aircraft, which had a magnitude of -1.6, was in position reported at time of sighting. From witnesses position utar would appear to move toward SE, path reported for objt. Therefore concluded that objt reported by witness was probably Sirius.

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28994645