South Hadley, MassachusettsMay 1961

Insufficient Data

Summary

On May 1st, 1961, a student in South Hadley, Massachusetts watched a bright white, silver object move across the daytime sky near Westover Air Force Base. The object appeared no larger than a pea held at arm's length. It started at about 80 degrees elevation, moving from the south-southwest, and disappeared at 65 to 70 degrees elevation while heading northeast.

The object did not fly in a straight path. It traveled straight at first, then made a very sharp left turn, followed by a sharp right turn. Each turn covered a distance of about 4 inches when the witness held a ruler at arm's length to measure it. The object turned left again, straightened out, and then disappeared. The entire sighting lasted 20 to 32 seconds and took place within an area of sky roughly the size of a 14-inch object held at arm's length.

When Air Force investigators questioned the witness, he reaffirmed his observations and emphasized that he was certain the object was not an aircraft. He lived near Westover and had seen many military jets and weather balloons. The investigators noted that the witness seemed sincere and confident in what he had seen. However, they noted that Westover Tower reported constant air traffic in the area, and that traffic at altitude sometimes produced contrails, which the UFO did not. The Springfield bombing plot (a radar site at Westover) reported no information.

The Air Force concluded that the object was probably an aircraft, possibly in the traffic pattern at Westover. However, the case file also states there was insufficient data to draw firm conclusions. No additional investigation appears in the file. The full case file, consisting of 7 pages, is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.

Reported location

South Hadley, Massachusetts

Date of incident

May 1961

State / country

MA / US

Page count

7 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 42

‘ E : PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD 1 I. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS | ~ 0 Woes Balloon : 1 May 156 South Hadley, Massachusetts |G Probably Belloon 9 3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION FUSEY. Bion | J 148 d 0 Was Aircraft | i CHETTSRG AD Tat SN Teo RB Ground-Visual O Ground-Rodar OQ Probably Aircraft : emt 011615Z Z a 0 AirVYisual 0 Air-Intercept Radar O Possibly Aircraft § 5. PHOTOS . SOURCE 0 Was Astronomical Eb O Yes O Probably Astronomical | B No Civilian 2h A O Possibly Astronomical E 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE oR Oe b B Insufficient Data for Evaluation 4 D k 1 20 sec or longer 1 Varied 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING Bright white, silver 11. COMMENTSTt is possible the the objt objt size of pea. Sighted 80° elevation bserved by witness was an a/c in the F moving fm SSW, Disappeared 65-70° elevation kraffic pattern at Westover AFB, even : moving to NE. Traveled straight at hgough the witness states that he was first, then made very sharp abrupt left turn positive it was not. Due to lack of : <5 SE Sided 3 SLL Sets " i # 3 wa sharp right turn. CPPRENE distances corroborating witnesses, this report is between turns was about 4" at arms length. valuated as Insufficient Data. i Turned left again, straightened out and then 3 disappeared. p ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52) SN