Williston, North DakotaFebruary 1961

Insufficient Data

Summary

On February 28, 1961, around 8:24 p.m. local time, a city patrolman in Williston, North Dakota, reported a bright object in the northwest. It was first seen about 16 degrees above the horizon and was watched for over an hour without disappearing. The report was made by a local police lieutenant. The object was about the size of a nickel held at arm's length.

The object was circular and white, with a red crest near the top. It showed slight left and right movement. The witness used a telescope with a coated lens as well as the naked eye. The weather was clear. A weather officer at Minot Air Force Base suggested it might be the planet Venus, which was brightest that month. Photographs were taken by the Williston police.

The Air Force card states the object was probably the planet Venus, with effects of atmospheric refraction. It notes the direction of Venus matched the object, that Venus was setting at the time at a brightness of -4.3, and that the last sighting occurred just as the planet set.

Reported location

Williston, North Dakota

Date of incident

February 1961

State / country

ND / US

Page count

4 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 41

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 4

View transcribed text

hr abla sd CE ET PV R———— RI TR STE Du MR Aven . . -
f p
if, PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD /
| 1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
OD Was Ballo
28 Feb 61 Williston, North Dakota O Probably Balloon |
3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION Ty. mee |
ER RR XJ) Ground- Visual O Ground-Radar 5 Probably Aircraft
GMT 0103252 O Air Visual a Air-intercept Radar D Possibly Aircraft 4 |
5. PHOTOS . SOURCE O Was Astronomical Y ERUS |
X] Yes add CX Probably Astronomical |
a0 Ne recsIvep Civililn O Possibly Astronomical
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION i NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE 1 OV iii |
0 Insufficient Dato for Evaluation
O Unknown
1 hr 1
10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING Circular, size of nickel|')- COMMENTSObjt of this sighting was Me
at arms length. White with red crest near topLprobably planet Venus with associated
NW az aprox 16° above horizon at appearance [effects of atmospheric refraction. The
and was watched for over an hour but was not | direction of the planet and UFO at fiat
3 observed to disappear. Slight left and right | time of sighting are coincident. Venus a
1 movement. time of sighting was just setting and
effects of stmospheric refraction, dis-
: tortion, discoloration and apparent motion
] were at maximum magnitude of -4.3.
| Fact that last sighting occurred Just
| as planet set substantiates this con-
clusion,
Fens Aly £Eteved |
: ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)
: : /
. ¢ 3
i S
RRA 5 TT Ee GA
CE EN EN UD PE Ty I rE :

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28991644