Salt Lake City, UtahOctober 1961

Insufficient Data

Summary

On October 2, 1961, around noon, a pilot named Waldo J. Harris was preparing for takeoff at Utah Central Airport in Salt Lake City when he spotted a large, gray disc-shaped object hovering to the south. At first he thought it was another airplane, but once airborne, he realized it was still in the same position and had no wings or tail. Curious, Harris changed course to investigate.

As he flew closer, Harris saw what appeared to be a metallic disc, roughly fifty feet across and four feet thick, with no visible openings, trails, or exhaust. The object seemed to be rocking slightly. When Harris got within three to five miles of it, the object suddenly moved straight up like an elevator, then climbed steeply toward the south at what he estimated to be thousands of miles per hour. It disappeared to the west in just a few seconds.

Ground observers at the airport, including mechanics and pilots, also watched the object through binoculars. They agreed it was stationary while they watched it, hovering near the Provo Omni radio station about thirty miles south of the airport. It appeared bright silver or aluminum colored, especially when the sun reflected off it. All observers said there was no sound and no visible propulsion system.

Two Air National Guard jets were scrambled to intercept the object but had no success. Weather conditions at the time were clear with high cirrus clouds (thin clouds made of ice crystals). An investigation by Hill Air Force Base concluded that the object was probably a sundog, an optical effect created when sunlight reflects off ice crystals in the upper atmosphere. The file notes that the object appeared approximately 22 degrees below the sun, which matches the typical angle at which sundogs form. Ground observers who stayed in one place saw it as stationary, while the moving pilot perceived rapid motion relative to his changing position, much like a rainbow appears to move away as you chase it. The full case file, containing 94 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.

Reported location

Salt Lake City, Utah

Date of incident

October 1961

State / country

UT / US

Page count

94 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 44

1 i § a Ar PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD jig i DR — 1 1. DATE ; 2. LOCATION . 2 12. CONCLUSIONS 1 i Es ; ithe iH 4 3 Was Bolloon : § 2 Oct bl Salt laze City, Utah 0 Probobly Balloon | Eo 3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4 TYPE OF OBSERVATION (1. Posuiy Butisen f. 1215 i 0 Was Aircraft | E Boel! cacao Xf) Ground-Visuval 0 Ground-Rodor 0 Probobly Aircraft al alm “~ F s : i i i MT 0219267 XB AirVisval 0 Air-Intercept Radar 0 Possibly Aircraft - 5. PHOTOS é. SOURCE 0 Was Astronomical i O Yes 0 Probobly Astronomical | E Ne Civilian : O Possibly Astronomical - 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE Xo Other__Proh fun Dog E 0 Insufficient Data for Evaluation : 3 fis 0 Unknown 15 min one Varied : 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING Sun 25 time and dats of |11. COMMENTS OT this sighting was in a 5 direction coincident with that reported for UFO] UFO was reported to be at elevation of Ei. aprox 22° abcve norison while absolute elev of jun fm Salt Lak area was 46° 59' 42" at a time of sighting. This would put objt at aprox 24° below sun. It is noted that weather 3 conditions at time of sighting indicate hign cifrus clouds. Cirrus clouds are associated Es with ice crystals, Sun dogs, which are associatgd with ice crystals, form at 22 1/2° and dome | : times 45° fm sua. All indicetions in this czse dre directed toward objt being a sun dog. i It is significz=nt that witnesses on ground cbsejved obJjt to be stationary while airborne Eo witnesses indicztez motion--probably his own, Thre is no available evidence which would is ala TENE se SFT a Fag a 3 3 Ee indicate that cbjt of sighting was not a sun dog. Eo aha Fl Bl a HEE Ripe. l -35I4S ~- 35 ¢ 4 (Ta%e 1 SPeimen FILE / E ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP $2) E & * pe: 3 \ 4 8, . 4