Wadena AFS, Minn, March 1962March 1962

Insufficient Data

Summary

On the night of March 17, 1962, military personnel at Wadena Air Force Station in Minnesota reported seeing an unusual object in the western sky. Seven witnesses, including Air Force staff sergeants, airmen, and civilians from nearby Park Rapids, observed a star-shaped object that appeared about the size of a pinhead held at arm's length. The object was white with a reddish tint and remained visible for one hour and twenty minutes, moving slowly across the western horizon.

The witnesses described the object's motion as generally downward and slightly side to side, traveling between roughly 250 and 285 degrees from the station (roughly west to west-southwest). The object faded away gradually rather than disappearing suddenly. The night was clear with unlimited visibility, providing good conditions for observation. No sound, exhaust trail, or other unusual features were reported.

The Air Force investigators noted in their analysis that the sighting lasted more than an hour, which made it unlikely the witnesses were simply observing the same star at different times. They pointed out that the western sky at that location and time contained several bright stars, including Aldebaran, Sirius, Betelgeuse, and Rigel. The investigators concluded that the object was likely caused by misidentification of a bright star whose appearance was distorted by atmospheric refraction (the bending of light as it passes through the atmosphere). The case was marked as "Unknown" in the official evaluation.

The full case file, consisting of 11 pages, is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.

Reported location

Wadena AFS, Minn, March 1962

Date of incident

March 1962

State / country

? / XX

Page count

11 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 45

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 11

View transcribed text

[i ‘
] PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD
: 1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
E vadena ANS Ginn
SAL 0 A ; vs 0. 0 Was Balloon
LT Max 62 ISL, 1Lnn 1 Probobly Bolloon
tte deste hd epg 3 . n
] 3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERYATION Gh -EORMY S100
| : 21.5 ie “0 ; 4 0 Was Airerafr
ocal Pa Ground- Visual 0 Ground-Radar 8 Probobly Alrerolt
WA SE A 0. SERRE | 0 AirVisuol DO Air-Intarcapt Radar 0 Possibly Aircraft
5. PHOTOS | 8 SOURCE 0 Was Astronomicol
C Yes | 0 Probably Astronomical
} © Ne | Military and Civilian 0 Possibly Asrronomical
] 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION [ 3. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE b Omer__Rofraction
0 Insufficient Dora for Evaluation
; 0 Unknown
E 1 hr 20 nmin J w :
4 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING Shar shuped objt size 11. COMMENTS his Signcing was reporsed to hove
; of head of a pin was observed by military lasted more than an hour and therefore
] and civilizn witnesses at Wadena AFS and could hardly be due to observation of
Osage linnesota. Opjt was white with a reddish |same star. That portion of same sky in }
tint and was cbserved low ox horizon to W. at time of signting 1s particularly ricn
4 Motion attributed to objt was straight down in bright stars. Aldebaran, Sirius,
f to horizon and a few degrees right and left. Betelgeuse and Rigel being brightest.
: Sighting was reported to have lasted more than {It is concluded that s ignting was caused
; and hour, by nisidentification on Western horizon
to thelir being distorted by Atmospherile
3 ATIC FORM 329 (RXV 26 SEP 52)
——

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28996437