Palm Springs, CaliforniaJune 1960

Unidentified

Summary

On June 26, 1960, a civilian observer in the Palm Springs area saw a bright, silver object that appeared circular or disk-shaped. The object looked about the size of a quarter held at arm's length. It shimmered as it moved, and the observer watched it through binoculars from the desert floor while the object hovered above the San Jacinto Mountains to the southwest. The sighting lasted between three and five minutes.

The object moved from southwest to west across the sky. Just before it disappeared, it suddenly veered at high speed toward the west. The observer noted that the object seemed to be riding on a thermal, a rising column of warm air. Throughout the sighting, the object appeared to shimmer or waver.

The Air Force attempted to contact the observer for follow-up questions but was unsuccessful. A second attempt to reach the witness in July 1962, nearly two years later, also failed. The Air Force's only conclusion, written on the initial report card, states there appears to be no information that the object was other than a balloon. The brief summary of findings notes that the limited information provided precluded a valid conclusion, and investigators recommended that any witnesses be asked to indicate on a diagram the exact height and position of the object above the mountains.

The full case file, as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below in 12 pages.

Reported location

Palm Springs, California

Date of incident

June 1960

State / country

CA / US

Page count

12 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 38

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 12

View transcribed text

Tha Ee PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD 1 :
ec A : i
1. DATE © 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS |
26 June, 1960 Palm Springs, California 8 Probably Belleon
3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4 TYPE OF ORRERVATION WN eNeEy Se |
X a | 0 Was Aireraft | |
IETS 2 1 SAS Ore 8%Ground- Vi sual O Ground-Roder vt Ht 4 gh :
QO Probably Aircraft
ge dO/O0LSE 0 AirVisvel © 0 Air-Intercept Rodor | © Possibly Aireroft |
5. PHOTOS . : O Was Astronomicel Sa
QO Yes ; DO Probably Astronomicol
¥%e Civilian : O Possibly Astronomical |
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 6. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE oJ PUI RE EP —
O Insufficient Date for Evaluation
3-5 Min One Westerly O Unknown |
: |
10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 1. COMMENTS
srilliand silver object, circular or dise An attempt wa: made to contact the |
shaped. Appeared to shimmer. Size of a observer with negative results. Lhere |
quarter at arm's leneth. Appeared in SW and apoyears to be no information that
disappeared in West. Observet at est 20,000 the object was other than a balloon. |
Just Rver San Jacinto Mts. Just prior to
disap .earance object veered at high speed
to West. Cbjesct apgsearad to ba riding a :
thermal. Was noted to shimmer or waver,
Sighting with binoculars, from Desert area
with objeet over Mountains.
ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP $2)
; /
. ‘ 3 ?
o.
LS
J J 00 a i RHEE SE PET: had oe

/ 12

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28987400