Ottawa, OhioSeptember 1959

Insufficient Data

Summary

In September 1959, a person in Ottawa, Ohio reported watching a very bright object in the night sky. The object flickered and changed colors, shifting between rose, blue, green, and red. It appeared noticeably larger than a star. The witness observed the object for three hours. It never disappeared from view during that entire time.

The investigator noted that the sky was clear, warm, and calm that night. When the Air Force analyzed the sighting, they identified the bright star Capella as the likely source. Capella is one of the brightest stars visible from Earth. The Air Force concluded that the flickering effect and color changes reported by the witness were probably caused by atmospheric distortion, a common optical effect that makes stars appear to shimmer and change color when viewed from the ground.

The Air Force marked this case as "unknown" in their official evaluation, though their comments point strongly toward a natural explanation involving a known celestial object rather than an unidentified phenomenon. The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives in 10 pages.

Reported location

Ottawa, Ohio

Date of incident

September 1959

State / country

OH / US

Page count

10 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 36

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 10

View transcribed text

PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD : p
1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
0 Was Balloon
Foal SER Ottawa. Ohio O Probably Balloon
3ep 59 JtLtawa, 11¢ :1:
3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION 0 Possibly Balloon
; 0 Was Aircraft
BLY be El a be Ge ER a ad +28 Ground-Vi sual 0 Ground-Radar QO Probably Aircraft
\ a . "
GMT 08 /0L007, 0 Air Visual O Air-Intercept Radar 0 Possibly Aircraft
5. PHOTOS 6. SOURCE 0X Was Astronomical Cap! 12
O Yes O Probably Astronomical
0 No civilian O Possibly Astronomical
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE Ee Otherto we gat iv doe alo
O Insufficient Data for Evaluation
O Unknown
threa hrs one NE?
10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS /
WX clear, sky, warm, no wind. Very bright Star Capella (Magnitude 0.2) was in
|] obj flickering w/changing colors of the rptd postion. This was probably
rose, blue, green & red. lashing, Larger distorted by atmospheric conditions.
than a star. In sight [for three hrs ©o
the IH. Was not seen to disappear.
ATIC FORM 329 (RRV 26 SEP 52)
7
. ’ &
L]
.

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28984415