Sioux City, IowaNovember 1961

Unidentified

Summary

On November 23, 1961, a civilian near Sioux City, Iowa, reported an object at about 9:30 p.m. local time (0330 Zulu November 24). One object was seen, similar to a bright star, with no clear shape and no discernible features. It had no sound, tail, or exhaust. Younger people first noticed it and called it to the witness's attention. The object moved south on a straight path with no maneuvers for about 15 minutes, starting at about 40 degrees elevation, before it disappeared at a lower elevation. The sky was clear with unlimited visibility. The Air Force checked the Echo satellite, balloons, and astronomical bodies. It found the steady speed and direction ruled out a balloon, and the speed and duration ruled out astronomical bodies. The case was listed as unidentified.

Reported location

Sioux City, Iowa

Date of incident

November 1961

State / country

IA / US

Page count

6 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 44

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 6

View transcribed text

1 -
1 PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD £
;- 5, - { syd A a ES RUE 1 SI Ena
: 1. DATE » : 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
E 0 Was Bolloon
r~ - - Fl} 3 -
1 23 lov 61 Sioux City, Iowa 2 igi A dor eid
1 3. DATE-TIME GROUP I 4 TYPE OF OBSERVATION pid »
i ) : O Was Aircraft
3 oe: 5 a - A
: EEL Ee AE RS RE Reh MAB Ground- Visual Ground-Rodar O Probably Aircraft
= FC a aA § 5
5 GMT_____24/03307 0 AirVisuol 0 Air-Intercept Radar O Possibly Aircraft
5. PHOTOS é. SOURCE 0 Was Astronomical
9 a Yes O Probably Astronomical
4 OI ¥e civilian O Possibly Astronomical
b 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE GRE 0 RR EE er a OT Ear Po
2 O Insufficient Data for Evaluation
E 15 nin 1 ) OC: Unknown
4 TEI TT oe ey ee Sr CNT WER VE J ART TD GIR A GI, TO TE 7 SI en FR Ge TIME eye rey eg Lyng gry ply Pager Ve I rpg
; 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING Obj, similar to bright opie COMMENTS oC © crossed oguator heading
3 22 unxnows shape v/no discernable fectures(no| N at 24/0310.52 & would have been over
i | sound, tall, or exhaust )observed moving 5S. Obs Japan at the time of sighting. Durétion
FF s»vd oy younger persons who calld attention t¢ the//rulez out afc altho an a/c often
3 witness reporting the obj. Initial observation appears az a single light. Wind direc-
3 estineted 40° elev. Obj maintained straight tion was fn1 the W & NY at speeds up to
2 3 HS oe . as Soe TRE) (RT p= i 0 SR MERE IRE TR gi Sa ve LN Ty
2 ¥ight w/no manuevers for 15 min where it disjppeared//70knots w/the most likely speed
2 Bais Bs RLFC SAE - ¥ sh Yima HER UL
3 at an elev sone lower than +0%(0bj assumed to] for upper air balloens at 40knots fn
3 sross zenith )ideather was clear w/no visibility 2807 Dursticn,steady speed of obj & dir
2 - restrictions according to the ovserver.Local ection of flight rule out the probabilipy
EE “2X rot was visibility 154,00 loud cover & of a ballocn sighting. Astronomical
3 pelling unlimited. Wind infec included. Witnesy podies ruled cub because of speed oF
E repeated that cbj had no wusual Ieatures. duration oi sighting. Caractritics cf
4 almanac ma) anti ana ohn avs neh essen
3 ATEN. FOS 50% (RAV Se SRV. 82) Case list2d as unidentified.
]
Po. *
; y y Bre : : [Y
3

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28995680