Portland, OregonMarch 1961

Insufficient Data

Summary

On March 6, 1961, civilians in Portland, Oregon, reported a star-shaped object about 7 p.m. local time. The object was about the size of a dime, white, and much brighter than a star. It moved in a jerky way toward the south-southwest and faded away 45 to 50 degrees above the southwest horizon. The sighting lasted about five minutes. It was seen with binoculars but could also be seen with the eye. Two other people in Portland reported a similar object within about ten minutes, with very close descriptions.

On Project 10073, the Air Force's official record for unidentified flying object reports, the conclusion was that the object was the satellite Echo I, after a check with Space Track.

Reported location

Portland, Oregon

Date of incident

March 1961

State / country

OR / US

Page count

4 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 41

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 4

View transcribed text

SE PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD | | : |
| 1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS |
” O Wos Balloon
6 Mar 61 Portland, Oregon 0 Probably Balloon
f 3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4 TYPE OF OBSERVATION ll uot het ont |
local 1900 ~~~ | 2 Ground-Visvel  O Ground-Roder D Probably Avera |
GMT 0703002 O Air Visual O Air-Intercept Radar O Possibly Aircraft a
S. ‘PHOTOS - SOUR O Was Astronomical
a Yes O Probably Astronomicol |
_ B No Civilian DO Possibly Astronomical |
| 7. LENGTH OF.OBSERVATION " NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE B® Other Echo T |
. ; O Insufficient Dota for Evaluation
O Unknown {
1 5 min 1 SSW
fF  |10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING Star-shaped objt, size [11 COMMENTS After checking with Space
of dime, white and much brighter than star. | Track, objt was determined to be Echo I |
| Faded out of sight at 45-50° above SW horizon. |
k ATIC PORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)
1 : ‘

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28991765