Sidney, OhioSeptember 1961

Unidentified

Summary

On the night of September 5, 1961, an observer in Sidney, Ohio, spotted a bright object in the sky while looking to the southwest. When viewed through binoculars, the object appeared to change colors, flashing red and green, and seemed to move around. The observer watched it for some time before reporting what they had seen.

The U.S. Air Force investigated the sighting as part of Project Blue Book. According to the case file, the Air Force determined that the object was actually the star Antares, which was located in the southwest part of the sky and was moving toward the west at the time of the reports. The apparent motion, color changes, and flashing effect that the observer described are consistent with how a bright star can appear when viewed through binoculars under certain atmospheric conditions.

The Air Force officially classified this case as "probably balloon" based on the evaluation form, though the detailed investigation notes point to a stellar identification instead. The full case file, comprising 8 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.

Reported location

Sidney, Ohio

Date of incident

September 1961

State / country

OH / US

Page count

8 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 43

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 8

View transcribed text

g . - PR p— asi di a AE CTE TT ree ROR ENE NE an 0 LTT — ;
)
he — PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD RL SERS
- : |
I. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
| " |o Wes Bal |
5 Sep 61 Sidney, Ohio 0 Probobly Bulleon
3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4 TYPE OF OBSERVATION 0 Possibly Balloon
Local BTL Rl Re Re XEXGround- Visual O Greund-Rader a Probably ho verels
Co Pe 0 | AAR O AirVisval O Air-Intercept Radar |D Possibly Aircraft ” |
5. PHOTOS BX Was Po—— A7ALCES
QO Yes QO Probably Astronomicol
] TNo Civilian O Possibly Astronomical :
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE (0 SOTTO niin
0 bir bigot Dota for Evaluation
ew! SW-W EE tT
§ [10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING Bright obJjt, size o 11. COMMENTS UDJt 15 determined TO be star
star observed through binoculars. Appeared to| Antares, located in the SW and moving to
be moving around. Changing colors red and W at time of reports.
green, flashing. :
|
; |
|
|
\
| ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)
. P) § 3
: .
§ Dl ds vale bi chibi y ! ks

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28994436