SW of Albans, West VirginiaMay 1960

Insufficient Data

Summary

On May 17, 1960, a civilian observer near Albans, West Virginia, reported seeing a red or orange object moving across the sky from east to west at an altitude of roughly 500 to 600 feet. The object came over the horizon and then faded into darkness. The sighting lasted about 45 minutes.

The Air Force received limited information about the sighting. In a formal assessment, Captain Joseph Schwarz, an operations officer, noted that the observer was untrained and may have misinterpreted what she saw. He also pointed out that no other reports came in during the 45-minute period of observation. Schwarz suggested that the moonrise, which occurred that evening at 7127 (around 7:13 p.m.), could have accounted for the sighting.

The case file indicates the Air Force concluded the object was probably a balloon, though the sparse details made firm identification impossible. The official summary stated the report lacked sufficient information for detailed analysis but suggested the sighting was most likely a star or planet. Without clear location data and complete information about the object's total movement, the investigators could not determine which celestial object it might have been.

The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, comprising 15 scanned pages from microfilm T1206, Roll 38.

Reported location

SW of Albans, West Virginia

Date of incident

May 1960

State / country

WV / US

Page count

15 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 38

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 15

View transcribed text

" § ERE LL i hs ie hai lau a a ba a Ls a Ase i an Ae a ER Ea se EE EEE SR ER ES
iy ‘ PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD
"DATE sich 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
SW of Albans, West Virginia 0 Was Ball |
17 May 60 ¢ & 0 Probably Balloon
3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION D Possibly Balloon
Local of Ground-Visual 0 Ground-Radar 0 Was Aircraft
0 Probably Aircraft
8
GMT 150030Z May 60 ® rT O Air-Intercept Radar |D Possibly Aircraft
5. PHOTOS . R 0 Was Astronomical
0 Yes O Probably Astronomicol
© No Civilian OD Possibly Astronomical
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE 9 I bias |
Insufficient Data for Evaluation |
45 min one W Sp |
10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING | 11. COMMENTS —
Red or orange object came over horizon moving | Report does not contain sufficient infor
E to W at about 500-600 feet. Faded into dark- mation for analysis. The object is pro
ness. a star or planet, however without the |
location and total movement it cannot be
: determined which one.
ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 BEP 82) :
ow Ped 7
ei RRR ie Be ES ig a ERS ChE ee a aM de BE LE EG El gg dais ee dot os i

/ 15

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28986886