Wilmington, North CarolinaFebruary 1963

Insufficient Data

Summary

On February 14, 1963, civilians about 2 miles east of Wilmington, North Carolina, reported a bright white object with a blue tint. The object looked round, about the size of a baseball in apparent size, and brighter than the moon. A 13 year old boy viewed it through a small telescope and said it seemed to trail something white, like a parachute. The witnesses were a truck driver and the student.

The object was first seen at about 5 a.m. local time, low in the southeast at about 30 degrees above the horizon, and was still in sight three hours later. It moved slowly in a straight line and seemed to bounce. It faded and turned yellow as the sun rose.

The Air Force, in its Project 10073 record, said there was an error in the reported time. It noted that three hours before sunrise the planet Venus was in the southeast at about that elevation, and that Venus would fade as the sun rose. The case was evaluated as astronomical, Venus.

Reported location

Wilmington, North Carolina

Date of incident

February 1963

State / country

NC / US

Page count

4 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 47

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 4

View transcribed text

i

E ee PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD

i 1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS

i ; O Was Balloon

i 14 February 1963 Wilmington, North Carolina g Goan i

F 3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION PAA Ee

od

i § O Was Aireroft

| Soealimiiliie od ihin 18 Te So 5 nhl pris hin O Ground-Radar Q Probably Aircroft

F GMT 14/1000Z 0 AiR sual 0 Air-Intercept Radar O Possibly Aircraft
Id 5. PHOTOS 6. SOURCE DX XWas Astronomical Venus
Ih O Yes O Probably Astronomical

i KNo Civilian O Possibly Astronomical
A 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION | 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS I's COURSE Gli OME Lie Re
i O Insufficient Data for Evaluation
Eo : Unknown
3 hours one not reporte
E 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING [1 COMMENTS : ]
i White shiny object brighter than moon | Error in time of report. Three
FE with blue tint observed through TX hours prior to sunrise Venus
with something trailing on back that was in the SE at about 30 dgr
a lonked like a parachute, Object elevation, Sighting has aspects |
appeared to be bouncing. Sighted coming af astronomical observation
; from work at 1000Z & still in sight at and Venus would disappear with
1 13307, (Sighting reported as from nigh the rising of the sun,
to dawn,) Object in SE at 30 dgr elva- i 0 y
- tion. Disappeared by fading. Object VeaUS ia™ 45 1% ~ Zn UE 5)
5 apre arsed to be yellow at sunrise, Vas ERR Sas
: Movement slow & in straight line, TR
i ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)
I
]
.
NN

/ 4

Use ← → keys to navigate · scans hosted by the U.S. National Archives

Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 29000265