Project 10073 Record Card and Related Correspondence — Maine and Vermont, February 1961

This document collection details a series of Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) sightings reported on February 5, 1961, across Maine, Vermont, and Massachusetts. The reports describe a bright, round object, often characterized as blue, green, or green-white, which was observed traveling in a northeasterly direction before appearing to descend and explode over the horizon. Multiple witnesses, including military personnel and civilian police officers, provided accounts of the event. One military observer, TSgt Homer P. E. Sheridan, described the object as round, glowing light blue, and leaving a bright trail. Another witness, Sgt John Jorge of the Ludlow, Massachusetts police, estimated the object to be three to four times the size of a basketball. The reports were consolidated by the Intelligence Division of the 99th Bomb Wing at Westover Air Force Base. While some initial speculation suggested the object could have been a decaying satellite, such as Discoverer 5, the official conclusion reached by the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) was that the object possessed all the salient characteristics of a meteor, specifically a 'fireball.' The reports emphasize that the event was widely publicized by the national press, radio, and television outlets. Intelligence officers noted that the size estimates provided by various observers were inconsistent and likely exaggerated, and they concluded that the phenomenon posed no threat to the national security of the United States. The documentation includes various teletype messages (TWX) and supplemental reports (AF Form 112) that track the investigation, including attempts to conduct a helicopter search for debris, which yielded no results due to snow-covered roads and the nature of the event. The file also notes that some observers, such as a civilian in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, believed they were tracking a Russian Sputnik satellite, though this was considered a separate matter.