Terre Haute, IndianaMarch 1960

Unidentified

Summary

On March 24, 1960, three separate Air Force aircraft spotted a green flare near Terre Haute, Indiana, while flying at 22,000 feet. The sighting occurred at 0802z (8:02 a.m. Zulu time, a military standard). The pilots reported that the object fell initially, then leveled off, and finally disappeared from view.

The three aircraft involved were a KC-135 (an Air Force tanker), a Delta (aircraft type not fully specified in the available records), and a Convair. Limited details about individual crew observations survive in the file. A first lieutenant, R.L. Jones of the 68th Air Refueling Squadron at Bunker Hill Air Force Base in Indiana, was one of the witnesses. The Air Force requested that Bunker Hill contact Lieutenant Jones and any other witnesses and provide a formal report to the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) in accordance with Air Force Regulation 200-2.

Weather conditions at the time included overcast skies with layered clouds extending up to 30,000 feet. Wind data collected from multiple altitudes showed winds ranging from 15 knots at the surface to 70 knots at 50,000 feet, generally flowing from the northwest to west. The sighting occurred 15 miles east of Terre Haute.

The Air Force initially classified the sighting as unidentified. However, later documentation in the file notes that the green flare was "identified as a green flare" with "origin undetermined," suggesting that while the object was recognized as flare-type material, its source remained unclear. The case file contains 7 pages as preserved in the National Archives microfilm collection.

Reported location

Terre Haute, Indiana

Date of incident

March 1960

State / country

IN / US

Page count

7 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 38

: MILITARY AiR PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD By AP, 7 —— CE SRR pee «eT UTE 5. DATE | 2 LOCATION Ho CONCLUSIONS a hel i nl Le 0 Wes Balloon 2h Marcil, 1660 jerre Haute, indiana 0 Probably Balloon : i a S&S Se A —— ASO SD ——————————————— et $e erat or (= TB US FR] IRR tw! 5 it B H 3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4 TYPE OF OBSERVATION [i Posnidly Baie, A 0 Was Aircraft J - < " RQ ac . Locel me eee : | i Ground- Visual (1 Ground-Radar 0 Probebly Aircroft CRO7Z RE ER i A 0 Possibly Aircroft CMT del eevee i 01 Air Visual 0 Air-intercept Radar 5. PrioTCS 1 8. SOURCE O Wes Astronomical C Yes {1 Probably Astronomical YA No Military 0 Possibly Astronomical BRE ee SE TE RDURSE. R 1” A] Er (ve 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 3. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9 COURSE X Omer. flare oo | 0 Insufficient Dara for Evaluation Not Given one fail ing oi Teddi Gn RR ER ee Ee RE mT 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING : 11. COMMENTS Green flare observed by three se parate a/c. Upserved by XC 1h7 crew, Convair anit . 4 “imited information. Observations from else AJCs kil Adencified as. a green -~ 22,000 ify 7) flare, Urigin andeterminad, ATIS FORM 122 (RIV 26 SEP 52)