Paris, IllinoisOctober 1951

Insufficient Data

Summary

On October 9, 1951, a private pilot flying from Greencastle, Indiana, to Paris, Illinois, spotted a silver object near Paris at 5,000 feet altitude. The object appeared stationary at first, meaning it did not grow larger or smaller as the aircraft approached. The pilot then watched as the object began to move in a northeasterly direction, heading south of the Newport, Indiana, atomic energy plant.

On the same day and around the same time, an air traffic official at Hulman Municipal Airport near Terre Haute, Indiana, also reported seeing an unidentified object. He described it as roughly the size of a half-dollar coin held at arm's length, silver in color, and moving in a southeasterly direction. He watched it travel overhead in about fifteen seconds and noticed no vapor trails or noise. Weather conditions were clear and bright.

The Air Force investigation noted that if the object was 200 feet high, it would have been traveling at approximately 2,220 miles per hour. However, investigators could not determine whether jet aircraft were in the area at the time due to the elapsed time since the sighting. The case file mentions weather balloons launched from Chanute Air Force Base, which was located about four miles northwest of the sighting location. The file suggests the object was "very likely a balloon," though investigators acknowledged that a balloon would typically have risen to a much higher altitude if it had drifted from the base. Investigators concluded they lacked enough information, including the object's duration in view and rate of speed, to make a firm analysis.

The full case file, as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below in 13 pages.

Reported location

Paris, Illinois

Date of incident

October 1951

State / country

IL / US

Page count

13 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 8

| E PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD | 1. DATE LOCATION (12. CONCLUSIONS 9 October 1951 | Paris, Illineis a Beshelty Betiovs 3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION Q Posslty Rellosn CETERA OS 0 Ground- Visual D Ground-Reodor = oo Aircraft 09/191,57 B Possibly Aircraft | RELY Air Visuval O Air-Intercept Rador Y 5. PHOTOS - SOURCE “lO Wes Astronomical O Yes OD Probobly Astronomical 0 No | Civilian ; DO Possibly Astronomical 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE CEE oan IY wm—— {1 Insufficient Dato for Evaluation Not Repérted | One | WE I. — gy 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS ; Pilot at 5,000 ft observed an object which Duration was not reported, Investigative appeared tc be stationary, Described as efforts did not detemine duration, round and silvery, Object began to move in a |Rate of speed of movement nct obtained, | Ils direction. All basic data indicates that the / : ; object was very likely a balloon, however without motion and duration no firm analysis can be made, Cas2 carried as | insufficient data, ] ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP §2)