Parkersburg, West VirginiaFebruary 1961

Insufficient Data

Summary

On the evening of February 8, 1961, a person in Parkersburg, West Virginia saw an unusual light in the southern sky. The object appeared to be about seven inches in diameter and looked like a revolving aircraft light, with a red center. The witness reported that it made a circular motion across the sky. The object was positioned roughly 180 degrees from true north and about 45 degrees above the horizon.

What made this sighting unusual was that despite Parkersburg being a fairly large city, only one person reported seeing the object, even though it was never observed to disappear from view. The witness could not estimate the object's distance or speed.

Air Force investigators noted in their report that the object could have been an aircraft. However, they concluded there was insufficient data to make a valid determination about what was actually seen. The case was marked as "unknown" in the official evaluation, though the file indicates that a balloon explanation was considered possible.

The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, spanning 9 pages.

Reported location

Parkersburg, West Virginia

Date of incident

February 1961

State / country

WV / US

Page count

9 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 41

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 9

View transcribed text

| PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD
1. DATE "| 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
DO Wos Balloon
8 Feb 61 Parkersburg, West Virginia DO Probably Bolleon |
3. DATE-TINE GROUP 4 TYPE OF OBSERVATION rr |
RTE JRE ETL WO B Ground- Visual ' 0 Ground-Rador a Peaboble Aircraft |
oMT__ 0904102 QO Air Visual O Air-Intercept Rador |O Possibly Aircraft
5. PHOTOS . SOURCE O Was Astronomicel
QO Yes O Probably Astrenomical
30 No Civilian O Possibly Astronomical
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION " NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE BI it imi
A Insufficient Dete for Evaluction
; ¢ O Unknown
* [io. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING BT ighnt Light with a red |11. COMMENTSObJt was reported to make a |
| enter like a revolving a/c light. No sound [circle in southern sky. It is possible |
ppearad about 7" in diameter. Objt appeared |that objt was an a/c, however there is
180° fm true N, 45° fm horizon. insufficient data for a valid conclusion,
Only 1 person reported seeing obJjt even
though location of witness is a fairly
large city, and objt was not observed to
disappear. :
i ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)
| /
“
®
bl ii ii

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28991377