Vandalia, OhioMay 1962

Insufficient Data

Summary

# Summary

In May 1962, witnesses in Vandalia, Ohio observed an object in the night sky that displayed multiple colors and moved slowly toward the north. The object appeared low on the horizon toward the east and west. The witnesses used binoculars (7x50 magnification) to get a closer look, but they could not determine the object's shape. The sighting lasted approximately one hour, though the witnesses did not watch continuously, returning indoors for brief periods during their observation. The object vanished by suddenly flashing out.

The U.S. Air Force investigation concluded that the witnesses had most likely misidentified the planet Venus. At the time of the sighting, Venus was positioned in a direction that matched the witnesses' account and was visible at roughly the same time the sighting ended. Venus was magnitude 3.3 on the brightness scale (moderately bright but not the brightest object in the sky). The planet's small angular size, only 5.52 seconds of arc as seen from Earth, explained why binoculars failed to reveal any distinct shape. Additionally, Venus was on the opposite side of the sun from Earth at that time, which is consistent with the colored appearance the witnesses reported.

The Air Force marked this case as "Probably Balloon" on its evaluation form, though the investigation narrative supports the Venus conclusion. The file contains 15 pages of documentation held by the National Archives.

Reported location

Vandalia, Ohio

Date of incident

May 1962

State / country

OH / US

Page count

15 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 45

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 15

View transcribed text

; cil :
— : PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD :
A —————————————  ————— ee ~ % mb lo
1. DATE ’ 2. ILLOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
UR J T ROP et Aa 3 % 3 VE 0 Was Bolloon |
2-3 May J150< Vandalia, Ohio 1 Prabably Bolioon i
er ——— eee A ——————— i sti | 2
3. DATE-TIME Gaou® 4 TYPE OF OBSERVATION 55 O Possibly Balloon
2000 y i 0 Was Aheroft
LO Ba i ii iii ‘0 Ground-Visuval D Ground-Rodar 0 Probably Aircrofr
XY a Ai=Viswol 0 Air-intarcept Aador 0 Possibly Aireroft
5. PHOTOS . SOURCE ‘0 Wos Astronomical Yili
C Yes O Probobly Astronomical
0 Ne Civilian 0 Posaibly Astronomical
AA SATB oro SE SH SEP DIETER GREE Cleiinsa: Soot mC CER UES See
7. LENGTH OF D8SERYATION | 3, NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE O OMhere beeen
1 insufficient Date far Evaluation
fg eS : 3 Unknown
1 Eour (Approx) | 1
10, BRIER SUMMARY OF SICHTING 11. COMMENTS
Witnesses observed object toward RW, quite Object was probably planet Venus. Planet
low, displayed meny colors znd appeared to was in a direction coincident with
move very slowly toward N, wiinesses observed [that reported by the witnesses and set
object with Tx50 binoculars but were unable ot approx. same time as conclusicn of
to determine shape. Disappeared by suddenly sighting. Venus was of magnitude 3.3
flashing cut. Witnesses did not watch object pt time of sighting. Venus is on oppo-
continuously but returned to house for short pite side of sun from earth and has a seml
periods between observations. laneter of only 5".52; therefore, it
s understandable that witnesses were
unable to determine shape through T+50
inoculars, Cause of sightingmisidentiri-
ation of Venus.
ATIC FORM 319 (REV 126 BEEP 52)
: 4 .
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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28997160