Washington, D. C., September 1956September 1956

Insufficient Data

Summary

On September 3, 1956, in Washington, D.C., a civilian reported seeing a round reddish object about the size of a pea at arm's length. The object was sighted at 90 degrees azimuth and 45 degrees elevation. It moved with vertical motions and was observed visibly for twenty minutes. Ground-based visual observation was made at 4:45 a.m. Additional reports came from National Airlines reservation observers at 10:40 a.m. The object had no aerodynamic features and was surrounded by occasional aurora. The Air Force concluded that the sighting was probably caused by the planet Mars, observed through a temperature inversion. Officials noted that although azimuth and elevation did not correlate exactly with Mars hypothesis, Mars was clearly visible in an otherwise starless sky that morning, supporting the conclusion.

Reported location

Washington, D. C., September 1956

Date of incident

September 1956

State / country

? / XX

Page count

3 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 26

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 3

View transcribed text

PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD

1. DATE | 2. LOCATION | 12. CONCLUSIONS
3 September 1956 | Washington, D.C. | [X] Was Balloon
 | | [ ] Probably Balloon
3. DATE-TIME GROUP | 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION | [ ] Possibly Balloon
Local | [X] Ground-Visual | [ ] Ground-Radar | [ ] Was Aircraft
GMT 04/0145Z | [ ] Air-Visual | [ ] Air-Intercept Radar | [ ] Probably Aircraft
5. PHOTOS | 6. SOURCE | [ ] Possibly Aircraft
[ ] Yes | | [ ] Was Astronomical Mars
[X] No | Civilian | [X] Probably Astronomical
 | | [ ] Possibly Astronomical
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION | 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE
20 mins | [ ] Other
still in sight at rpt | one | w/vertical motions | [ ] Insufficient Data for Evaluation
 | | | [ ] Unknown
10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING | 11. COMMENTS
One round reddish obj. about size | Sighting probably caused by
of pea at arm's length. Obj was sighted | Mars seen through a temperature
at 90 dgr azimuth & about 45 dgr eleva- | inversion. Although azimuth &
tion. Object moved with vertical motions. | elevation do not correlate
Object was observed visually for | exactly w/Mars hypothesis, shape,
twenty minutes & was still in sight | size, color, general
at time of initial rpt. | direction of sighting, duration
 | of sighting, and fact that Mars
 | was clearly visible in otherwise
 | starless sky tends to support
 | this conclusion.

ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28967384