Succasunna, New JerseyOctober 1961

On October 24, 1961, at 1230 (12:30 p.m.), a witness in Succasunna, New Jersey, reported seeing an unidentified flying object. According to the case record, the object appeared as a solid form that gave off smoke and displayed a bluish-green color with a tail. The edges were fuzzy or blurred rather than sharply defined. The witness described it as resembling burning oil.

The Air Force received a report of the sighting and sent a questionnaire to the observer to gather additional details. The case file includes the standard U.S. Air Force Technical Information Sheet, a multi-page form designed to collect systematic information about UFO observations, including descriptions of the object's appearance, behavior, movement, and the conditions under which it was seen.

The observation was noted as having characteristics typical of a fireball observation, according to the summary recorded on the case record card. However, the file is heavily OCR-corrupted in critical sections, making it difficult to extract specific details from the witness's completed questionnaire responses. The handwritten portions and descriptive narratives that would normally provide the clearest account of what occurred are largely illegible in this scan.

The Air Force's final evaluation of the case was listed as unknown, meaning investigators did not reach a definitive conclusion about the object's nature. The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, consisting of 14 pages.