Tampa, FloridaApril 1963

Insufficient Data

Summary

On the evening of November 18, 1962, a resident of Tampa, Florida, and his wife observed three unusual lights from their front porch. The objects approached from the northeast, growing larger as they moved in a straight path toward the witnesses. At about 48 degrees above the horizon, the lights seemed to hover for several minutes before turning sharply to the southeast. The three lights then departed at high speed, bobbing and weaving slightly but roughly maintaining their formation, and disappeared within three to five minutes. The total duration of the sighting was approximately 11 to 13 minutes.

The observer described the lights as "moving stars" that stopped and changed direction, behavior unlike any aircraft he knew of. The objects showed no shape, tail, or exhaust, and gave the impression of being under intelligent and precise control at all times. Two witnesses (the observer and his wife) watched from a fixed position on the ground using only their unaided eyes. The night was unusually clear with excellent visibility.

Air Force officials who investigated the case found the witness to be credible and of sound judgment. They consulted with local Federal Aviation Administration facilities, Tampa approach control, and area weather and navigation agencies but found no conventional explanation for the sighting. The investigation noted that the observers insisted the objects behaved with deliberate intent and coordination. A previous report from the same witness had been evaluated as unidentified, though the Air Force noted that insufficient flight data and duration information limited their ability to reach a firm conclusion.

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

Reported location

Tampa, Florida

Date of incident

April 1963

State / country

FL / US

Page count

9 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 47

rE ER | - PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD ; b 1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS E i: a A 0 Was Balloon 1 Lg doped 19603 Tampa, Horida O Probably Balloon jr H | 4 3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION 27 Eo ssbly. BShOoR 3 night RY i O Was Aircraft F Boealisinat dm kb © iil io BGround- Vi sual O Ground-Radar B PYSEABIS Aiversrt | J: OMpTiasssb al fal oo Rilo 0 Air Visual QO Air-Intercept Radar O Possibly Aircraft i i 5. PHOTOS 6. SOURCE 0 Was Astronomical EE : O Yes O Probably Astronomical i 4 +B No Civilian O Possibly Astronomical f 4 ‘| 7. LENGTH OF QBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE EEO heretic) Ci i TX Insufficient Data for Evaluation i FE: i {3 Unknown 3 Foams E renortag | two | not reported lio. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING B COMMENTS N Two moving stars. Objects that look | Previous report from sams | b t like stars excent they s top. | witness was evaluated as uniden- | | tified, Additional data was 3 | requested but none supnlied, | | Sighting was nrobhably a/c: : howsver 3uch items as duration, : sd | flight data which includes the : | | length of time the objects are : i | AnNaro 4d BS - 5 Einnaary i 2 y= i | insufficien information to ] { Litorm firm analysis, | | ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52) |