Project 10073 Record Card and Related Correspondence — 30 January 1961

This document contains a collection of records related to Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) sightings from January 1961. The primary report concerns a sighting on January 30, 1961, near Keflavik, Iceland, by two military personnel, 1st Lt. Helan T. Johnson and Capt. Keith M. Bratton of the 57th FIS. While flying at 20,000 feet, the pilots observed a round, bright silver object, described as the size of a match head, positioned 45 degrees above their wing level. The object appeared to move slightly to the west before being lost when the aircraft changed heading. The 932nd AC&W Squadron was unable to track the object on radar. An analysis by the base weather detachment suggested that the object was unlikely to be a weather balloon, given the wind conditions and the trajectory of known balloon releases in the area. The report concludes that the nature of the object remains unknown. Additionally, the document includes brief summaries of other reports from January 1961, including a metallic, cigar-shaped object photographed over the Gulf of Mexico by Harry Caslar on January 22, and a report from Greenfield, Massachusetts, on January 30, involving a low-flying object with bright white lights and a humming sound. The document also contains an academic paper regarding a California fireball observed on January 16, 1961, providing technical data on its trajectory and orbit. The compilation serves as a record of various aerial observations reported to the Air Force during this period, emphasizing the difficulty in identifying such phenomena despite thorough investigation by weather and radar units.