Rome, New YorkFebruary 1960

Unidentified

Summary

On the night of February 27, 1960, at about 2327 (11:27 p.m.), a civilian near Rome, New York, and military personnel at nearby Griffiss Air Force Base watched an unusual glowing object move across the sky.

The object was round and small, described as about the size of a large pinhead held at arm's length. It appeared as a white light with a fan-shaped streamer of orange or reddish light beneath it, resembling a contrail or exhaust. Multiple witnesses used field glasses and a clinometer (a tool for measuring elevation angles) to track it.

The object moved in a consistent path from roughly 145 degrees azimuth (looking generally southeast) to about 150 to 153 degrees (slightly more southeasterly) before disappearing into a cloud bank. The entire sighting lasted between three and four minutes. Weather observers noted wind patterns in the upper atmosphere at various altitudes. The Air Force considered whether the object might be a weather balloon released by nearby stations or weather service operations.

An air police officer at Griffiss noted that if the object had been spotted shortly after dark at high altitude while leaking, a weather balloon with an instrument package could match the witnesses' descriptions. While investigators gathered details about balloon releases and upper-atmospheric conditions, no definitive identification was made.

The Air Force ultimately classified this case as unidentified. The full case file, as held by the National Archives, spans 51 pages.

Reported location

Rome, New York

Date of incident

February 1960

State / country

NY / US

Page count

51 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 37

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 51

View transcribed text

or BY : Lad ag h CL fis } g : -
: : PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD
o_o A A MS SR A A A A A A 1 A 58. A A A hr SARS
1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
; Of February, 1 “(0 Te “og Lary 0 Wos Bolloon
? 0 Probably Balloon |
3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION $l anRas Bly Bolleon |
; 3 ! § 0 Was Aivcroft |
: ee 0 Ground. Visual 0 Grownd-Rodor C1 Peobably Airzroft hg
A LF ‘a £31k Ad
CMT. 2 Bf dad 0 Als Visual 0 Air-Intercap? Rader GO Possibly Alreroft
5. PHOTOS 3. SOURCE EA PE 2 8 Was Astronomical
0Yes D Probobly Astronomical
RO Civilian ; 0 Possibly Astronomical
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8, MUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE 3 Other cee Le
ish ok 0  Insufticisnt Dato far Evaluation
3-14 Minutes Une West 3 Urknown UID aD
es Ea El A ow ie ee
10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF 3iCHTING 11. COMMENTS
Round obicct size of larze head of pin at Sirus at about 145 deg az, Speed of objept
apmla lancth naessd in front of star Cirus tos glow for a/c. Wind h=ading at right
! 3 ; ; £ 5 3 Ld abstr : : £
Tl avatisn 20 ded azimuth at 170 des. loved angles to. direction od object. Gpued tno
to 150 dep at disappearance hind cloud bank flow for Satellite and oLject al: mog ing
Looked 1 ie white on trail 1 ir <i in the WY TLE i roct On o ) Jr | a1. oON Lisa
raaleased in area. “Motion tho constant ahd
phiect ‘aphearsd 1.08 dazatanh for miracs
KosEX0% Case listed as unidentified. |
ATIC FORM 329 (REY 26 SEP 52)
A Na a hv FRAC TNA) ) i ¢

/ 51

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28986031