Project 10073 Record Card — San Angelo, Texas, 16 Feb 61

On February 16, 1961, a civilian observer named Walton J. Brown, a 35-year-old petroleum geologist, reported a sighting of an unidentified object in San Angelo, Texas. The observation occurred between 1920 and 1935 local time. The witness, who was using 7x35 binoculars, described the object as having a reflective, shimmering light, similar in appearance to the Echo I satellite. The object was observed moving north on a heading of approximately 360 degrees, eventually disappearing at an altitude of 45 degrees above the horizon. The witness noted that the object appeared to follow a straight path, similar to a satellite, and did not perform any maneuvers. The observer reported that the object would intermittently flicker and disappear from sight, which he attributed to atmospheric effects near the horizon. Major Mart G. Smith, Jr., of the 694th Technical Training Wing, investigated the report. He confirmed that no air traffic or balloon releases had occurred in the area during the period of the sighting, specifically checking with the 1110th Balloon Activities Squadron. Despite the witness's perceived reliability, the official conclusion reached by the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) was that the report provided insufficient data for a definitive evaluation. The primary hypothesis suggested by the investigator was that the phenomenon might have been an unannounced small satellite similar to Echo 1. No physical evidence was recovered, and no corroborating witnesses were found.