Naha, Okinawa, September 1959September 1959

Insufficient Data

Summary

On the night of September 21, 1959, an object was seen both from the ground and from the air near Naha, Okinawa. Ground observers were in the control tower at Naha Air Base, and airborne observers were pilots in two aircraft about 35 miles to the southwest.

The object was round and the size of a pea at arm's length. It first appeared as a bright flash with a flaming tail and was white turning to burning red. It looked like a ball of fire. The object burst apart and then disappeared, the way a meteor does. The trail faded to the south in about 10 seconds. There was lightning in the area before and after the sighting.

Five military witnesses, three pilots and two tower operators, were rated as reliable. The Air Force concluded the object was a meteor. The card lists the case as a bolide, an astronomical sighting. This was part of Project 10073, the Air Force's official record for unidentified flying object reports.

Reported location

Naha, Okinawa, September 1959

Date of incident

September 1959

State / country

? / XX

Page count

4 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 36

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 4

View transcribed text

’ PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD oh

1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
0 Was Balloon
: 21 Sep 59 Neha, Okinawa 0 Probably Balloon

3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION GF Bossy Baifocn
3 X f i 0 Was Aircraft
1 er 0:Ground- Visual 0 Ground-Radaor QO Probably Aircraft
i =r 5 : :
: GMT 24 10457 0 Air Visual O Air-Intercept Radar O Possibly Aircraft |
] 5. PHOTOS 8. SOURCE dx Was Astronomical [{oGzOr
: O Yes 0 Probably Astronomical
No NA a O Possibly Astronomical i
4 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE (0 REEL 0) § 3 [| poriiinotrd ISRete 15 cir BR an REE Anes {
4 O Insufficient Data for Evaluation
3 ; gt 0 Unknown
: 10 secs one South .
i 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS J
l Rnd obj white burning & changing to red. “hracteristic bolide observation.
; | Tnitial observation ast 2 bright flash w/ ase tisted as a meteor sighting.
Planing tail, Obj burst & +hen disappeared.
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3 ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)
F :
E : g : :
i s
- : |
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FE \
i: 3
5
PS |

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28984610