Springville, New YorkAugust 1960

Unidentified

Summary

On August 26, 1960, someone in Springville, New York reported seeing an unusual flying object. The witness described a fuzzy, oval white light with sharply outlined red lights on each side of its front. The object remained stationary for about ninety seconds, then suddenly took off. No sound was heard until the object had moved across the sky, when the sound of a jet engine became audible. After that, the object disappeared.

The Air Force received an initial report but determined that the description and details were insufficient for a proper evaluation. The witness was asked to complete a detailed technical questionnaire and submit it to the Air Force's Aerospace Technical Intelligence Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.

An Air Force analyst reviewing the case noted that the object's characteristics resembled those of a common astronomical object, and suggested that the witness may have been observing the planet Venus, which was setting at 1500 hours (3:00 p.m.) on August 26, 1960. The analyst stressed, however, that without more complete information from the witness, no firm conclusion could be reached. The official Air Force evaluation of this case was "unidentified," though the preliminary analysis leaned toward a natural explanation.

The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, 16 pages.

Reported location

Springville, New York

Date of incident

August 1960

State / country

NY / US

Page count

16 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 39

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 16

View transcribed text

/
“SN: PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD ;
1 1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
4 26 Aug 60 Springville, New York Pree ne
4 ug PT i2gv e, lew Ior O Probably Balloon
~ | 3. DATETIME GROUP i TYPE OF OBSERVATION = TVR Seem
] ER RE ie 8 Grouné-Vi sual © Ground-Rodar B Prony herds
3 n Ls” Binoculars BH Banoitie eect
4 ous. BLIOUNSE 0 Air Visuel O Air-Intercep) Rodar PHwIny TRY
E 5. PHOTOS « SOUR 0 Was Astronomicgol
i QO Yes . OO Probobly Astronomicel
Civilian O Possibly Astronemicol
3 0 Ne
EE
4 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 3. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE CRE DNRC W—
O Insufficient Dara for. Evaluation
3 2 min - one WSW to SE Bie ci
j 10, BRIEE SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS
i Fuzzy oval white light with sharply cutlined The description, and the fact that the
4 red lights on each side of the front of the sound of a jet was heard after the object
: object. Ubject was stationary for 1 1/2 min, had passed would indicate that the object
3 then suddenly tock off. No sound was heard was in fact a jet.
q until cbject was "across the sky,” then the
j sound of a jet engine was heard. After that the
¢ object disappeared. ;
E |
E ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP $2)
‘

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28988516