Okinawa, October 1960October 1960

On the night of October 25, 1960, three U.S. Marine Corps officers at Camp Hague on Okinawa saw a bright orange object in the sky. Major Charles R. Burroughs, Major Otto Svensson Jr., and Major Howard A. Westphall watched it for about five to seven minutes. Two unidentified Marine officers had pointed out the object to the group. The men estimated it was roughly the size of Mars as seen from Earth. They said it had no visible surface, no trail, and made no sound.

The object appeared to move in a roughly circular path around the observers. When they first spotted it, the object was roughly southeast of their position, moving from east to west. By the time it vanished, it had shifted to move from northwest to southeast. The men estimated it was about 50 nautical miles (roughly 58 regular miles) east of Okinawa when first detected. It faded gradually toward the southeast. All three officers were certain it was not a weather balloon. They were familiar with balloons because the Marines used them in their work. The Air Force report noted they appeared to be intelligent, mature observers who did not hesitate in describing what they saw.

The officers suggested the object might have followed the flight path of a satellite like Sputnik or Echo One, which the path resembled. They also raised the possibility it could have been a missile whose test data was not available. Weather conditions at the time were clear with unlimited visibility. An Air Force intelligence officer preparing the report stated there was no evaluated analysis of the sighting and that "there is no evidence in this report which would indicate that the object viewed by witnesses was not an aircraft." The file does not state a final conclusion. The complete case file, spanning eight pages, is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.