Northern Hems., April 1962April 1962

In early April 1962, multiple observers across the Northern Hemisphere reported seeing a bright streak of light in the night sky. The object appeared as a luminous tail or plume with no apparent movement, visible from various locations including the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii and the continental United States. Several military aircraft and ships filed formal reports of the sighting between April 6 and 10, describing the object as having a small round head with a long tail of bright light. Observers reported bearings, elevations, and positions with precision typical of military documentation. Some crews initially wondered whether the object might be an aircraft, but the lack of any movement and its extremely high altitude suggested something else entirely.

The Air Force's investigation focused on astronomical explanations almost immediately. The timing and description of the sightings matched perfectly with Comet Seki, a newly discovered comet that had been expected to brighten considerably as it approached Earth in the fall of 1961. According to reporting included in the file, astronomer Dr. Elizabeth Roemer of the U.S. Naval Observatory at Flagstaff, Arizona, had been tracking Comet Seki since its discovery and photographed it with a 40-inch reflecting telescope. The comet had developed a tail several degrees long. By early April 1962, the comet had faded considerably from its peak brightness but remained visible under good viewing conditions. The file notes that Seki would continue moving away from Earth and become increasingly difficult to observe by mid-January through very large telescopes only.

The Air Force concluded these reports documented observations of Comet Seki, the same celestial object that had disappointed astronomers by not brightening to the spectacular levels initially predicted. The case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives across 21 pages.