Parksburg, PennsylvaniaMarch 1955

Insufficient Data

Summary

A Ground Observer Corps spotter near Parksburg, Pennsylvania watched the night sky on March 3, 1955, and reported seeing many red objects that expanded to between 6 and 8 feet wide. According to the observer, these objects exploded and burned with a yellowish-green color. The flashes and bursts appeared roughly every minute over the course of about an hour, and they occurred approximately 25 miles southwest of the observer's position, in the direction of Aberdeen Proving Ground.

The Air Force investigated quickly. A telephone check with Aberdeen Proving Ground revealed that the facility was conducting 75 mm anti-aircraft artillery tests at the exact time the observer reported the sightings. The investigation by Flight 3-H of the 26th Air Division confirmed that Aberdeen was firing during the period when the UFO reports came in. The officer reviewing the case concluded that the observer had actually witnessed the artillery bursts, not an unknown aerial phenomenon. The expansion, color change, and timing of the flashes matched what would be expected from artillery test firings rather than anything anomalous.

The Air Force's official evaluation of this sighting was "Probably Balloon," though the case file clearly indicates the actual explanation was a misidentification of routine military weapons testing.

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

Reported location

Parksburg, Pennsylvania

Date of incident

March 1955

State / country

PA / US

Page count

9 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 22

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 9

View transcribed text

: : PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD
ne TRIS EA GEE TRE, (SS RIA Ch STR A CS UN, I NL I A TREES SET
1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
0 Vas Bolloon

| ~2 March 1955 | Parkaburg, Pennsyvania {9 Erobubly Balloon

3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4 TYPE OF OBSERVATION O  Posvibly Balloon
3 i 1 Was Aircraft
g Local ae oa TT A Xround- Visual 0 Ground-Radar 1 Probobly Aircraft
] guy US/0808% 0 Air Visual 0 Air-Intercept Radar 0 Possibly Aircraft
: 5. “PHOTOS {TAN SE ERE RRA I HE 1 1] 1) SAE Ep A a (ie [8] Was Astronomical
1 0 Yes 0D Probably Astronomical
X3No Civilian GOC Observer 0 Possibly Astronomical

7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE BX other AA Firings
0 Pk Data for Evaluation
3 0 Unknown
| EE ae LC BERURONRRY
3 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS
GOC observer reported many red objects A telephone check with the
which appeared to expand to 6 to 8 fept, Aberdeen Proving Ground posi-

Explode and burn to a yellowish green tively identified this sight-
This sighting was repeated every few |! + ing as aerial bursts fron
: minutes over a period of an hour, 75 mm AA tests which were beinlg
1 conducted at the reported time
j of sighting.
po ATIZ FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)

/ 9

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28961390