South Hadley Falls, Mass., May 1961May 1961

Insufficient Data

Summary

On a clear evening in May 1961, an observer in South Hadley Falls, Massachusetts watched a bright object move slowly across the sky. The object appeared as a long sphere, roughly the size of a dime. It was bright white on its front end and reddish on the rear. As it traveled, the object seemed to have a slight weaving or rolling motion. It rose toward the northeast at an angle of 80 to 90 degrees, then disappeared as it descended toward 40 to 50 degrees, gradually fading from view.

The Air Force received a report of the sighting and began investigating. The reporting agency contacted NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center to see if any satellites were in the area at the time. Goddard confirmed that the object in question was satellite Echo I, a large inflatable communications satellite that was visible from Earth. The satellite's appearance, brightness, trajectory, and motion matched what the observer had seen.

Based on this finding, the Air Force concluded the sighting was a satellite. The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives in 13 pages.

Reported location

South Hadley Falls, Mass., May 1961

Date of incident

May 1961

State / country

? / XX

Page count

13 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 42

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 13

View transcribed text

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: - PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD ;
i
TT : , 2 LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
E . k : & 0 Was Ball
3 1k May 61 South Hadley Falls, lass. a] Probably Beblosn
4 3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4 TYPE OF OBSERVATION 6 Posaiily Beliosn
4 2005 0 Wos Aircraft
ET RR B Ground- Visual OD Ground-Rodor Q Probably Aircraft
A ARR Ads 1052 0 Air Visual 0 Air-Intercept Radar DO Possibly Aircraft
E 5. "PHOTOS . RCE 0 Was Astronomicael
1 O Yes DO Probebly Astronomical
4 # Ne Civilian O Possibly Astronomical
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 3. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE BD BREE Emi
; : O Insufficient Date for Evaluation
i 8 wis 1 0 Unknown

: W-E
: 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTINGUDLONg sphere, size of  |11. COMMENTS Description, Iligat pach, and
| dime. Bright white front, reddish rear. Appegred duration are characteristic of a
i 80°-90°. Disappeared 40°-50°, Appeared to satellite. Reporting agency checked wit}
have a slight weaving or rolling motion. Jus Goddard Space Flight Center, which
E faded from view. confirmed that satellite Echo I was
objt in question.
FE ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)

S

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28992545