Xenia, OhioJune 1963

Unidentified

Summary

On the night of June 9, 1963, a man lying in his backyard in Xenia, Ohio, saw a series of bright blue flashes moving across the sky. The observer, who was looking straight up from a chaise lounge in the Lanewood Housing Development on the west edge of town, watched the flashes move from directly overhead toward the three o'clock position, crossing the northern horizon in 45 to 60 seconds. He counted about 15 to 20 flashes, spaced roughly three seconds apart.

The flashes resembled the bright burst of a camera flashbulb, according to the witness. He believed the intense blue color ruled out a meteor or ordinary aircraft. The object moved at what he described as a "phenomenal" speed, yet he heard no sound. The sky that night was mostly clear, with scattered clouds and visible stars.

The Air Force investigated by checking with Wright-Patterson Operations, the local military coordinating center. Investigators learned that a T-33 trainer jet from Minneapolis, based at Maxwell Air Force Base, had landed at the Xenia airfield at 2228 local time (10:28 p.m.), which matched the witness's sighting time. The aircraft was in a normal landing pattern. However, the witness did not report seeing any conventional aircraft. The Air Force concluded the flashes were probably caused by the landing T-33, though the file notes this assumption rested on the fact that no other object was observed.

The case was marked "Unidentified" in the official record, with "Probably Balloon" and "Possibly Aircraft" listed as alternate conclusions. The full case file, comprising 11 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.

Reported location

Xenia, Ohio

Date of incident

June 1963

State / country

OH / US

Page count

11 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 48

| Se kK v AER en PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD f : 1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS Po - 9 Jun 1963 Xenia, Ohio : 0 Probobly Balloon | | 3" DATE-VINE GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION 0. Possibly Ballson 4 Hy 7 ft Sn SR Se a AX Ground- Visual O Ground-Radar ¥ ike Ca IPR SRLoognops Tn O AirVisvol 0 Air-Intercept Rador DO Possibly Aircraft : 5. PHOTOS 8. SOURCE O Was Astronomical A : 2 Yes : 0 Probably Astronomical - E Ne military 0 Possibly Astronomical 3 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE [© Ro) |, 7 Fra AN CN CN - =) nsytli cians Dota for Evaluation § Jess than 1 min "one North enn | iq 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING ee 11. COMMENTS ' / : Series of blue flashes spaced about 3 seconds | Check with WP Operations revealed that a 4 apart observed to the right of overhead moving| T-33 from Minneapolis with Home Base at 1 toward 3'o'clock and the right extrmeity of Maxwell landed at 2228 (0328Z) and was 3 the horizon. About 15 or 20 flashes. Flashes over Xenia at the time in a normal land-~ i similar to a flashbulb. No sound. Stars visible ing pattern. No a/c was noted by the wit ] with scattered clouds. Flashes evenly spaced. | ness. Since the witness did not observe : - any other object it is assumed that this 1 a/c is the cause of the report. 1 ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52) : : 1 1 / i: : ; .