St. Paul, MinnesotaJanuary 1962

On January 30, 1962, a husband and wife in St. Paul, Minnesota witnessed an unusual object in the northwestern sky. The object descended at a steep angle, roughly 45 degrees, moving at very high speed. It glowed a dull red and left a trail behind it. The entire event lasted approximately half a second before the object exploded and disappeared. According to the case file, many other people in the area with either ground or airborne vantage points also witnessed and reported the event.

A U.S. Air Force official who reviewed the case noted two main possibilities: a jet aircraft with its afterburner engaged, or a bolide (a bright meteor). The official acknowledged these were only educated guesses pending a more complete report. The witnesses were asked to fill out detailed questionnaires about what they had seen, and an extra form was provided in case they could locate other observers.

The case file indicates the object displayed several characteristics typical of meteor sightings. The witness descriptions emphasized the brief duration, the steep descent angle, the reddish glow, the visible trail, and the final explosion. However, the OCR quality of the questionnaire responses and follow-up analysis pages is too degraded to extract specific technical details about the investigation, weather conditions recorded at the time, or any final determination reached by the Air Force. The complete case file, consisting of 14 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.