Vicinity Parkersburg, W. Va., October 1957October 1957

Insufficient Data

Summary

On October 9, 1957, near Parkersburg, West Virginia, a pilot of a KC-97 aircraft on a refueling mission reported sighting a bright object moving across the horizon at very high velocity. The object traveled from northwest to southeast and disappeared from view in approximately thirty seconds. The sighting occurred at 10:03 a.m. The Air Force noted that the time lapse was too long for meteors or balloons, and the direction generally coincided with the Soviet satellite. The investigators concluded the object could possibly be the third stage rocket of the Soviet Satellite, though if the observer's time was not correctly estimated, the object could possibly be a satellite rocket or aircraft.

Reported location

Vicinity Parkersburg, W. Va., October 1957

Date of incident

October 1957

State / country

? / XX

Page count

3 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 29

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 3

View transcribed text

PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD

1. DATE
9 October 1957

2. LOCATION
Vicinity Parkersburg, W.Va.

3. TYPE OF OBSERVATION
Land 1935
GMT 10/00352

4. SOURCE
Military

5. PHOTOS
Yes

6. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION
approx 30 seconds

8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS
one

9. COURSE
NW to SE

10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING
A bright object moved across horizon at high velocity.

11. COMMENTS
The time lapse is too long for meteors and too fast for balloons. The 3rd stage rocket of Soviet Satellite over this general area at approx. 1858 this date. Direction of object; however, generally coincides with Satellite. If observer's time not correctly estimated, object could possibly be Satellite rocket. Otherwise, poss- ibly a/c.

12. CONCLUSIONS
Yes Balloon
Probably Balloon
Possibly Balloon
Was Aircraft
Probably Aircraft
Possibly Aircraft
Other___
Probably Astronomical
Possibly Astronomical
Other___
Insufficient Date for Evaluation
Unknown

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28972063