Wichita Falls, TexasJanuary 1961

Unidentified

Summary

On January 15, 1961, several employees of a Wichita Falls television station sighted an unidentified object in the sky west of the city. The witnesses reported seeing the object at an azimuth of approximately 255 degrees and 10 degrees above the horizon, starting around 3:15 a.m. The object appeared similar to one reported the day before, though this time it did not display a red glow at intervals. The Air Force investigators found they could not determine the cause or identity of the object based on the witnesses' reports.

The case file notes that the preparing officer was unable to estimate the cause or identity of this object. Unlike some of the other January 1961 sightings in the Wichita Falls area, this one had somewhat credible witnesses employed at a local media outlet, though the limited description provided in the file offers little detail about the object's appearance or behavior.

The Air Force's official evaluation marked this sighting as unidentified. This case file, consisting of 52 pages as held by the National Archives, documents the investigation into the January 1961 Wichita Falls sightings.

Reported location

Wichita Falls, Texas

Date of incident

January 1961

State / country

TX / US

Page count

52 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 41

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 52

View transcribed text

a aH qh ne sa Si es NE
pk v LRN IDs : ;
|
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3 REL SL AG PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD
Ei —————— eR SE FREY
1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
: Pe BN Fe 0 Was Bailoon
| Loo XS SEE BS Jichita Falls, Texas - Ait 14 Sion
3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION gi A dg
2118 : 0 Wos Aircraft
Local wy Nason JET 0 Ground- Visual D Ground-Radar QO Probobly Aircraft
at tha 4 :
GMT J1O3124 & Air Visual 0 Air-Intercept Rodor O Possibly Aircraft
a ————— ——————————— ———— a © — ——————— ——————— : -=
5. PHOTOS [> SOURCE 0 Was Astronomical © ps
C Yes ' * Probably Astronomical
& ro Civilian 0D Possibly Astronomical
Le —————————————a= TE gg —————————————
7. LENGTH OF C3SERVATION 3. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9 COURSE 0 Other ems
O Insufficient Deta for Evaluation :
” 0 Unknown
| 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING Aound, orighb, white light Comments Theaximuth of the object coin-
bout size of volley ball with an amber-red cides with the pesition of Venus at the
~olor on its lower side. plane flying fm Tulsa time of the sighting. The planet was Judyb
Nkla, to Abilene, Texas. bout 15 miles fm cebting and it 1s concluded that almods-
; lichita Folls on an outbound heading of approx pheric refractica was the principal cause
16°; altitude 6500'. Object was sighted approfof the nisidentification. The deseriptic
E 50 miles away. Object descended slowly away of the object and its moticns are those
from a/ c on course of approx 2733. lio trail which would be associated with an astro-
x exhaust or sound, Ab approx 03247 objt dis-|nomical objt subjected to the effects of
spoeared soyard ground. ADOT 10 sec later red atmospheric refraction.
lash seen on ground. About 13297 another red
s1ash. Glows disappecred aboub O4107Z.
ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)
3 bE ER RR PE HI JER ae TEN

/ 52

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28990873