Project 10073 Record Card: Sighting of 24 Jan 61

On January 24, 1961, three ships in the Atlantic Ocean reported sightings of an unidentified aerial phenomenon. The reports, consolidated into a Project 10073 record card, describe an illuminated, irregular object that was glowing and smoking. Witnesses, including the masters of the SS Zephyros and the German tanker Marie Boettger, observed the object for approximately four to five minutes. Descriptions of the object included a brilliant, moon-like appearance with blue-white luminescence, moving rapidly across the sky from a northwest to southeast direction. The object was reported to be surrounded by a cloud or smoke, though no trace remained after it disappeared. The Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) evaluated these reports alongside military records. They concluded that the object was almost certainly an Atlas missile launched from Cape Canaveral. The investigation noted that the firing schedule for the Atlas missile coincided with the timing of the sightings, and the reported azimuths of the object's flight path matched the trajectory of the missile launch. Consequently, the phenomenon was officially attributed to the missile test.