Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaOctober 1961

On the evening of October 18, 1961, around 6:50 p.m., a witness and a companion spotted an unusual object in the sky over Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, near the intersection of City Line and Wynnefield on Bryn Mawr Avenue. The object resembled a comet with a fiery tail, featuring a red object at the head of the tail. The witness described it as large, moving slowly across the sky at a pace unlike an airplane, and noted that it appeared very close to the ground. The pair watched the object travel slowly for approximately five minutes before it suddenly vanished from sight.

The witness was struck by the object's appearance, comparing it to Halley's Comet, which he had observed in 1912. He noted that the object was completely silent and seemed to have a structure resembling a gondola or pilot cabin at its front, with what looked like a window where he could see a light. As the object moved, it appeared to travel very slowly at first, then abruptly accelerated and disappeared rapidly. In his written report, the witness speculated that it might be a Russian rocket or satellite, and expressed concern that Americans should remain vigilant about unusual aerial activity.

The witness completed a detailed Air Force questionnaire describing the sighting. In the sketch section, he drew the object as a bright, fiery form with a tail. He indicated that the object appeared shiny and bright, and that it moved in a deliberate path across the sky before vanishing. The witness also noted that another person at a nearby location, the Presidential Apartments, reported seeing the same object that evening.

The Air Force's official evaluation, recorded on the case summary form, indicated that the object displayed characteristics consistent with a meteor or fireball. However, the file notes that the object's unusually slow movement for five minutes, followed by rapid disappearance, distinguished it from typical fireball observations. The case was ultimately marked as unknown, though the investigating officers acknowledged the fireball hypothesis. This case file, comprising 11 pages of original records, is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.