Declassified UFO / UAP Document
Project 10073 Record Card — Sighting Report, May 1961
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AI-Generated Summary
A May 1961 sighting of a reddish-orange object with a contrail over Northern California and Oregon was officially classified by the Air Force as a meteor. The report includes witness accounts from military aircrews and confirms the object was observed over a wide geographic area.
This document consists of a Project 10073 record card and associated teletype communications regarding an aerial sighting on May 19, 1961. The incident involved a single, round, reddish-orange object observed in the skies over Northern California and Southern Oregon. Witnesses, including military personnel from a C-47 crew and a SAC Air Refueling Squadron, reported that the object appeared approximately 15 degrees above the horizon at a bearing of 270 degrees, traveled from East to West, and disappeared between 3 and 5 degrees above the horizon. The observation lasted approximately 20 seconds. The object was described as having smoke and a contrail. Official conclusions reached by the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) categorized the event as an astronomical meteor. This determination was based on the object's characteristics and the fact that it was sighted across a wide geographic area, which the investigators deemed consistent with a meteor trajectory. The documentation includes teletype headers indicating the report was distributed to various Air Force commands, including the Air Defense Command and the Air Technical Intelligence Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
A red ball of fire, trailing smoke, flashed across the sky in Oregon at dusk on May 19th. The object, described by one observer as brighter than the moon, was seen as far away as Canada and California.
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Official Assessment
Was Astronomical METEOR
The object was observed in widely scattered areas of Northern California and Southern Oregon. It displayed all characteristics of a meteor, and there is no data available indicating this was not a meteor. This conclusion is substantiated by the fact that the object was seen over such a wide area.
Key Persons
- Mr. [illegible]Witness