Ramey AFB, Puerto Rico, October 1960October 1960

On October 21, 1960, observers at Ramey Air Force Base in Puerto Rico and nearby locations reported seeing an unusual object in the sky. The sighting lasted between one and thirty minutes, depending on where the observer was stationed.

Multiple witnesses described the object as round and white, though they disagreed on its size. A Coast Guard observer thought it was about the size of a pea. An observer on Scrub Island estimated it as large as a half dollar coin. Observers at Ramey AFB reported it was slightly smaller than a baseball. Some Ramey observers also reported seeing an intermittent tail that was four to five times the size of the object itself. No sound was reported by any witness.

The object's path also varied in accounts. Observers at Ramey said it flew in a straight line before leveling off and decreasing in altitude. Other observers reported the object moving in a nearly vertical flight path. The object was first spotted at different angles of elevation depending on the observer's location, and it was last seen high in the sky before disappearing. All observers except those at Ramey said the object appeared to come from a cloud on the horizon.

The Air Force's analysis suggested the sighting may have been a missile launched from Cape Canaveral several minutes before the reported sighting time. The trajectory matched missiles fired toward the Ascension Islands. However, the Air Force noted that some witnesses reported the sighting lasted longer than a typical missile burn time of about three minutes, though the analysis acknowledged that witness estimates of duration were "very likely in error." The file concludes that due to the uncertainty in timing and limited reliable data, a final conclusion cannot be made with full accuracy.

The full case file, comprising 32 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.