Oakhurst, New JerseyJuly 1963

Unidentified

Summary

In July 1963, someone in Oakhurst, New Jersey reported seeing a UFO traveling from northwest to southeast across the sky until it disappeared at about 15 degrees above the horizon. The report came in by letter, providing only limited details about the sighting.

The Air Force investigated by comparing the sighting to known objects in the sky at that time. A key piece of information was whether the observer had reported the time in Daylight Saving Time or standard time. If Daylight Saving Time was used, the Air Force concluded, the object was likely Echo, a satellite used to relay communications. If standard time was used, the Air Force said there was insufficient data to identify what had been seen.

A second person inquired about the sighting to the Air Force, noting that Echo was actually moving southeast at the time. Based on this information, the Air Force ruled out Echo and suggested the object could have been an aircraft instead, though it did not make a final determination.

The Air Force's official evaluation marked the case as unidentified, noting that the sighting conformed with Echo's position if the reported time was Daylight Saving Time. Without clearer information or additional details, the investigators could not definitively explain what the observer had witnessed.

The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, comprising 8 pages.

Reported location

Oakhurst, New Jersey

Date of incident

July 1963

State / country

NJ / US

Page count

8 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 48

1 : Zn 5 ~. PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD | : | 1 1. DATE 2. LOCATION | 12. CONCLUSIONS : 1 July 1963 .. Oekhurst, New Jersey e Probably Belloon I | 3. DATE-TiNE GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION Cl RELsNY. Basel | Local ARR RRA XXGround-Visuvel DO Ground-Radar a 3 et RES BERRA 0 AirVisuvel O Air-Intercept Radar D Possibly Aircraft © | 5. PHOTOS o $0 O Was Astronomical O Yes O Probably Astronomical | XE Ne civilian O Possibly Astronomical | 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE BX Otheraatellite oh | a Jmeiiigiont Data for Eveluation 3 not reported one ESE ER | |10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS : 3 UFO sighted traveling from NNW to ESE until [Sighting conforms with ECHO observation disappearing at 15 deg elevation. if reported time was Daylight Savings i Time. Very limited data. Report received : in letter only. 3 pit ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52) : i / : : (}