Project 10073 Record Card and MERINT Report — 3 September 1961

On September 3, 1961, at 040734Z, a white object of first-magnitude brightness was observed by personnel aboard a NAVAIR/SAR ship located at 34-47N, 166-19.5W. The sighting lasted for four minutes. The object was initially spotted at an elevation of ten degrees, bearing 195 degrees, and was observed moving in a northeasterly direction. It eventually disappeared over the horizon at a bearing of 175 degrees. The observation was conducted visually using binoculars. The sighting was reported by a Seaman (SN) named Zumdahl and was subsequently confirmed by the Officer of the Deck (OOD) and five other watch standers, all of whom were considered reliable witnesses. The weather conditions at the time were reported as CAVU (Ceiling and Visibility Unlimited). The incident was documented in a Project 10073 record card and a formal MERINT report transmitted by the Hawaii Air Defense Division at Kunia Annex. The official evaluation of the incident concluded that the object exhibited the characteristics of a satellite. Although the report notes that the sighting was not explicitly confirmed by satellite tracking data, the absence of conflicting information led to the final classification of the event as a satellite sighting.