Vandalia, OhioSeptember 1961

Unidentified

Summary

On September 8, 1961, a witness in Vandalia, Ohio saw an elongated, soft yellow light moving due west at an estimated speed of 3,000 miles per hour. The object remained visible for about 15 seconds and made no sound during the sighting.

The witness described the object as resembling a missile, with characteristics similar to those of a meteor entering Earth's atmosphere and beginning to burn. The Air Force evaluator noted that the brightness, the object's small apparent size, and its movement through the atmosphere all matched what would be expected from a meteor.

The Air Force concluded that the sighting was probably a meteor. The case file indicates that insufficient data existed for a definitive evaluation, but the physical characteristics reported were consistent with a natural celestial phenomenon burning up in the upper atmosphere rather than with an aircraft or other artificial object.

The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, comprising 8 pages.

Reported location

Vandalia, Ohio

Date of incident

September 1961

State / country

OH / US

Page count

8 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 43

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 8

View transcribed text

3 rE he) “pec. Blo oe lh salsa SRR EES 11-SIBe Oe 5 ; AAT " vs
by |
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: bg! : PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD Pitan
I. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS | |
0 Was Ball |
| 8 sep 61 Vandalia, Ohio o Probably Belleon |
| 3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4 TYPE OF OBSERVATION O Possibly Balloon |
| Local 2O4B BST ~~ IXGround- Visual O Greund-Radar a Cry oer oft | |
GMT__09/0418 0 Air Vial O Air-Intercept Raday (DO Possibly Aircraft
S$. PHOTOS % SOUR 0 Was Astronomical McTese |
i Q Yes BX Probably Astronomicel !
Ne Civilian O Possibly Astronomical |
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE 1 TTI iiss cis: |
a oh pi cient Data for Evaluation
kk 15 Sec 1 W EO | |
10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTINGElongated, soft yellow 1if £ COMMENTS Ob jt was described as an elon-
moving due W at estimated speed of 3,000MPH. |In gated light similar to a missile. Site
sight for 15 sec. No sound. suggests a very small objt moving |
: throught atmosphere, as does brightness, |
: Characteristics are similar to those of a |
mateor entering atmosphere and beginning $o |
[og age UR Ci CL burn. Report is categorized as a probable| |
meteor sighting.
ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)
. : y . : ; \ : . .

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28994504