Springfield, OhioSeptember 1961

On a September evening in 1961, a person in Springfield, Ohio watched a bright light in the sky for about an hour. The object appeared as bright as the brightest stars and was roughly the size of an evening star. Its color shifted between white and yellow, and it seemed to jump around in the sky rather than move smoothly across it.

The witness was in the residential section of Springfield and was looking toward the southwest when they first spotted the object. They watched it change brightness during the observation. The sky was clear or nearly clear at the time, with stars visible and no moon or only dim moonlight.

When the Air Force investigated, they considered several explanations. The case file notes that the Dayton area had received multiple similar reports on different days, all describing an object with these same characteristics. The investigating officer concluded this was most likely a sighting of the star Antares, a bright star in the southwestern sky at that time of year. Antares has a magnitude of plus 1.2, making it one of the brightest stars visible. Stars can appear to twinkle and change color, especially when viewed near the horizon, and this effect might explain the reported color changes and jumping motion.

The Air Force officially rated this case as unidentified, though the file indicates the probable explanation was the star Antares rather than an unknown object.

The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, consisting of 9 pages.