Reardon, WashingtonJanuary 1961

Unidentified

Summary

Several people near an Atlas missile site in Reardon, Washington, reported seeing bright lights in the sky on the nights of January 13 and 14, 1961. The witnesses described the objects as having red, orange, blue, and white lights that blinked and moved in ways that reminded them of helicopters. Some observers saw the lights hovering close to the ground, then moving upward very quickly. Others reported the objects could move slowly or at high speed, and some said the lights appeared to jump or change direction suddenly.

The Air Force investigated the sightings thoroughly. Officers and security personnel visited the missile site but found no evidence that anything had actually landed. After gathering witness statements and conducting interviews, the Air Force determined that a privately owned helicopter flying in the area on January 14 and 15 was responsible for what people had seen. The helicopter had unusual flashing red beacon lights mounted at the front and back, an arrangement the owner had installed himself for night flying. Because this lighting setup was not standard on most helicopters, it looked unfamiliar to the witnesses. The owner noted that from a distance of several hundred yards, a person on the ground would not hear the helicopter if the wind were blowing the right way. The Air Force concluded that this helicopter with its distinctive lighting arrangement accounted for the sightings.

The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives across 49 pages of microfilm.

Reported location

Reardon, Washington

Date of incident

January 1961

State / country

WA / US

Page count

49 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 41

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 49

View transcribed text

¥ BT NRE Co sm Merc RR :
|
1
| eh PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD
i TA A Si =r TT SES H
|. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
i HE 00 Was Balloon
., }y Tes» ba T vy my re Ts ch Irnot oc
13 & 14 Jan 61 Reardon, wa shington 0D Probably Balloon
i ———————— ie pss a crs A LETRA a H
3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION O Possibly Bellon
Varied 0 Was Aircraft
ad LC " Vi o Ba: a rcv
Loa eee eee 3 Ground- Visual Ground-Rodar O Probobly Aircraft
Eo GMT. i Q Air Visual £1 Air-Intercept Radar O Possibly Aircraftic lO
5. PHOTOS 16. SOURCE O0 Was Astronomical
i C Yes 0 Probably Astronomical
& No Militery and Civilian O Possibly Astronomical
Nee TY BOURKE.
| 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 3. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE TRE TREAT ——
O Insufficient Data for Evaluction |
i 3 Unknown |
TOR SRE BE ER re a | ERE
10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTINGS overal people sav 1. COMMENTS foo an exhaustive investigation
right lights in the sky, near or in the vas made by the reporting agency, it vas,
| Wicinity of 2 liike Site, Most witneases determined that a privately owned heli-
| jascribed the action of the lignts was simi- |copbter, with alternating flashing red
lar to thosz on a helicopter. beacons fore and 2f%, flying in the vielpnll
of Reardon Wash. Lighting arrangament Is
not standard arrangement. The owner in-
stalled the lights to suit his needs, ani
- as 8 result this lighting arrangement 1s
not familiar to most people.
ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)
i A tas FARR bed WERE 0 eA BATS SEH 508 3 LNG IA i ‘
i §

/ 49

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28990961