Plainview, New York.July 1961

Insufficient Data

Summary

The witness, who lived about 1.5 miles from Grumman Aircraft, saw two separate objects on consecutive nights in late July 1961 from Plainview, New York. The first sighting occurred on July 31. The second took place on August 1. Both objects displayed similar characteristics, traveling at approximately 1,000 miles per hour.

During the first sighting, the object disintegrated after traveling just five miles, which would have taken only a few seconds at that speed. This behavior was consistent with a bolide, a type of bright meteor. The second sighting showed characteristics that pointed toward a military jet aircraft, possibly a test of a newer fighter configuration. The witness's familiarity with known aircraft types made this assessment credible, especially given the object's proximity to the major defense contractor.

Air Force investigators noted in their report that the witness lived very close to Grumman Aircraft, and the speed and description of both objects pointed toward jet aircraft. The file concluded that the first sighting was probably a bolide, while the second was probably a jet aircraft undergoing a test flight.

The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, 21 pages.

Reported location

Plainview, New York.

Date of incident

July 1961

State / country

NY / US

Page count

21 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 43

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 21

View transcribed text

ald "rie pe : . iz " . ~ “ " et ne J : ids dhl Si ilo ER PENI pr no NERO A FRO ER mss 1
i PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD i
EE a  — ——————————— estes bs eerintn
1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
CT a NE ~ on Eg "RARER, 0 Wos Balloon
oF tt J #1 Ned AU ol LLaldnview, Lew LOR 6 (m] Prabably Balloon
3. DATETIME GROUP Ii vr amissoosi——————a—uu 10 Possibly Bolloon
3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION 4
10LE 2010 Bx no 0 Was Aircraft
Eds 20.10 C s round-Radar " :
§ LL EPREa R TOR A e Ground- Visual Gro R li tax Probably Aireroft
018 UN ~3r D1 10% YS : i
eMT 0100457, 0221107 Q Air Visual O Air-Intercept Radar |B Possibly Aircraft Ls :
TE DLR RE —————————————sts » BA LI fo Be ts ete tet 4 wr tes wns a Ki
5. PHOTOS | 8. SOURCE O Was Astronomical “5 ce
Q Yes N+ | 8% Probably Astronomical
Nard timer y O Possibly Astronomical
ZNo | + LV Lda y
es Se i iol i i
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE CT) RE RD we GE AN
y SY seconds 0 Insufficient Data for Evaluction
oad ada : i 0 Unknown ;
‘nd 3-6 nmin 1 NIE |
TRI ELIE BO RE SABERUGRTS. AON Bl ro mda Le JA AMMENRE (TNS ATATATE SALT DD BATE reap
10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING? Ob Jt going Lili at Th. COMMENTS (i( SCIVCEYS saw 2 separave oignb
| 1000mph, lst on 31 Jul; 2nd on 1.: Wg. Both had] ines whith aprox ems Tlight, pattern, Wit-
dy GRE rn cba fe oa BERT: BEAR ai Uy Pep LT LL F
same characteristics, lst sighting disinte- neSs states That he lives™x Lh miles
grated after 5 mi (would take seconds to travel this Im Grumman Aircraft and speed anc
distance) so lst sighting was characteristic [description point to jet a/c, Arh did)
| of Iireball, witness familiarity with known a/c
indicaves that this is possible
test of newer configuration. lst sighting
a bs ly | 3 go ! Vom \ aa ~~} Ta) %p of
was was prooably a bolide. 2nd probably fz/c, |
ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)
. fit
bo UREA hoi BARAT dani i SARI lh baa Ns BN i 1 RETR :
i i ;
| Fi
$1)

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28993758