Rushville, NebraskaDecember 1960

Insufficient Data

Summary

On December 28, 1960, at about 2200 (10:00 p.m.), several people near Rushville, Nebraska reported a round object the size of a basketball at arm's length. It was white and trailed gray smoke. Witnesses included military and civilian observers.

The object first appeared at about 30 degrees elevation, then was seen again lower. It seemed to make a level turn and faded to the southeast, then disappeared below the horizon. Most witnesses said it lasted only a few seconds, but two estimated 1 to 3 minutes. One witness thought he heard a light explosion.

Some people reported an odor like tear gas and a stinging of the eyes. The investigating officer concluded the odor came from a nearby heavily traveled federal highway and was not linked to the object. The Air Force conclusion was probably astronomical (meteor), noting the description is characteristic of a disintegrating bolide.

Reported location

Rushville, Nebraska

Date of incident

December 1960

State / country

NE / US

Page count

5 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 41

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 5

View transcribed text

| PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD :
1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
28 6 J Was Bolloon
: J Dec 60 Rushville, Nebraska 0 Probably Bolleon
3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4 TYPE OF OBSERVATION € Possibly Balloon
2200 v O Was Aircrafr
ON nll (I Ground-Vi sual 0 Ground-Radar Q Probably Aircrafy
CMT 22/0k00Z D Air Visual O Air-Intercept Radar | Possibly Aircraft
ee ee
5. PHOTOS + SOURCE 0 Was Astronomical
QO Yes hoi ? xX Probably Astronomical Meteo
BD Ne Military and Civilian O Possibly Astronomical
7. LENGTH OP OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE 8) Other ae Ene
(varied with observer) ; D Insufficient Dare or Evaluation
; SI 10 Unknown
Pew sec +o 1-3 min | one descended to SI |
10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS
Round, size of basketball, white, trailing gra: Several people reported object, ona reportpd
SmokXe., Appearsd aprox 30° elev at aprox 180° odor, one reported A Sound like explosio
first time; 05° at 160° Second time, Disappeare Majority estimated duration to he few se ,
aprox 30° elev at aprox 160°, Avpeared to make but two others stimated 1-3 min. Description
level turn frem azimuth of 180° to azimuth of is characteristic of bolide disintegrating.
aprox 160° from observers on first arpesarance. [Direction indicates it was "Overtaking'th
On second, course vas straight until it dis- earth as it rotated, theraby staying in view
abpeared below horizon. Faded gradually to SRE longer than it would have otherwise, Odor
Tiest time ang disappeared below horizon second Possibly from federal highway next to tha
| time, witness reporting it. Long duration reported
: by 2 witnesses could have been due to
| scattered clouds.
ATIC PORM 329 (REV 28 SRP 52)
i aaa SBE Net re :
|
|

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28990725