Spokane, WashingtonSeptember 1960

Insufficient Data

Summary

On the night of September 20-21, 1960, three Air Force pilots saw an unusual object while flying training missions near Spokane, Washington. All three were flying F-89J interceptor aircraft at altitudes between 20,000 and 30,000 feet when they spotted the same phenomenon within seconds of each other.

The pilots described a round, glowing object that changed color from greenish-white to reddish-orange. They said it was about the size of a quarter held at arm's length. As they watched, pieces broke off the object and continued to glow. The object moved rapidly across the sky from west to east, then appeared to turn north. Within ten seconds, it dropped abruptly, and four or five pieces separated from the main body before everything disappeared. The pilots heard no sound from the object.

What made this sighting noteworthy was that multiple trained military observers saw the same object from different altitudes and aircraft, all reporting consistent details. A weather bureau official at Spokane International Airport noted that the object's 10-second visibility and the way it broke apart while burning suggested it could have been a man-made satellite rather than a meteor, since meteorites typically burn out in about two seconds without visible break-up.

The Air Force's official evaluation concluded the object was probably a meteor, specifically suggesting it may have been part of the Pegasids III or Pegasids meteor shower, which was active at that time of year. However, the file notes that reports from across a wide area, spanning from Washington to as far south as Portland, Oregon, described objects with varying characteristics, suggesting multiple phenomena rather than a single event.

The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, spanning 14 pages of documents.

Reported location

Spokane, Washington

Date of incident

September 1960

State / country

WA / US

Page count

14 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 40

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 14

View transcribed text

{ MULTIPLE SIGHTING PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD
! I. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
20 Sep 60 Spokane & Vicinity, Washington 0 Was Belloon
) eT r J — 0 Probobly Bollcon
§ EH ry rE TTT EE — :
3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION TRAY
BAAR .
BN eae B Ground-Yisuel O Ground-Rodar o ule vg SPY
¢ ny Inline : i
L 3 CMT Calva a 0 Ai~Visual 0 Air-Intarcept Rodor DO Possibly Airerolt
5. PHOTOS . SOURCE O Wos Astronomical §
C Yes Military « Aart Td as 0 Probobly Astronemical [2La0r
; a. Flitary and Civilian 0 Possibly Astronomical
2 Ne |
ah PR aso ci nil di Se ms les Se Gd Se
i 7. LENGTH OF OBSZRVATION 2. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE BB Omen ce
2 0 lnavfticiant Doto for Evaluation
og LEP spe SEs $7 2% 4% «.10 Unknown
i Jl) Sec one w= dien NN
: 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS
‘ Aomnd object, greenish-white, changing to a Large number of people reproted objects,
§ reddish-orange color. Size of quarter at arm's Witnesses ranged from Washington to as
: length. Pieces peeling off continued to glow. far as ebout 50 miles S of Portland,
¢ {fo sound heard. When pieces broke, object Cregon. Objects observed by all witnesse
3 wropped adruzily; at first traveling W-E, then | were not one 2nd the same, although they
H wppearad to twa N, 4 or 5 pieces off main por-| had same characteristics. These charac-
, Lion then exploded. When ohservad, aircraft at teristics indicate that objects were
3 0,000 ft sighted additional lavel at 80° port. part of a meteor shower. The earth is
E Disappeared going down, partly down, 90° port. passing through several meteor showers
3 this time of year, the two most prominent
this time of the month, Psgasids III ard
Pegasi.
ATIC FORM 329 (REV 15 SEP 52)
LJ

/ 14

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28989200