Unidentified Flying Object Report — Cochransville, Pennsylvania, March 30, 1953

This document is a military teletype report detailing an Unidentified Flying Object sighting that occurred on March 30, 1953, near Cochransville, Pennsylvania. The report was filed by the 647th AC&W Squadron at Manassas, Virginia, and directed to the Director of Intelligence at USAF Headquarters in Washington, D.C., as well as the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) at Wright-Patterson AFB. The sighting was reported by a civilian ground observer, identified as a farmer, who observed a star-shaped, orange object for approximately ten minutes. The witness described the object as moving slowly in a west-northwest direction and noted that it appeared to be a balloon with a light attached. The observer explicitly stated that there were no vapor or exhaust trails associated with the object. Military authorities conducted an investigation into the incident, which included checking radar logs and weather data. The report confirms that no aircraft were detected by electronic equipment in the area at the time of the sighting. Weather conditions were reported as clear with 15 miles of visibility and scattered clouds at 12,000 feet. Winds aloft data for various altitudes were also recorded as part of the assessment. The official conclusion reached by the evaluating agency was that the object was a balloon. While the report acknowledges that no weather balloons were launched within four hours of the sighting, it maintains the balloon identification based on additional information from the C.G.-IDDF, which confirmed a balloon was observed over Cochransville at the same time. The document includes standard military reporting fields, such as the date-time group, location coordinates, and a detailed breakdown of the observer's information and the environmental conditions at the time of the event.