Declassified UFO / UAP Document
Correspondence Regarding Sighting of Echo I Satellite — Ridgefield, New Jersey, August 1964
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AI-Generated Summary
A citizen reported a light in the sky over New Jersey on August 8, 1964. The Air Force identified the object as the ECHO I satellite, while noting that a U-turn maneuver would suggest a high-flying aircraft.
This document consists of a three-page file containing an inquiry from a citizen in Ridgefield, New Jersey, and the subsequent response from the United States Air Force. On August 8, 1964, between 10:00 P.M. and 10:15 P.M., the witness and their friends observed a light in the sky that performed a wide U-turn. The witness wrote to NASA to inquire if a satellite had passed over the area at that time, and the letter was forwarded to the Air Force for a response. In a letter dated August 18, 1964, Major Maston M. Jacks of the USAF Public Information Division addressed the inquiry. Major Jacks informed the witness that the ECHO I satellite had passed over the New Jersey area at approximately 9:57 P.M. EDT on the night in question, positioned at approximately 70 degrees above the horizon and moving northeast. Major Jacks concluded that this was likely the object observed by the group, though he acknowledged that if the object had indeed performed a wide U-turn, it could have alternatively been a high-flying aircraft.
Undoubtedly this was what you and your friends observed. However, if the object did, as you have stated, make a wide U turn, it may also have been a high flying aircraft.
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Official Assessment
ECHO I passed over the New Jersey area at approximately 9:57 p.m. EDT on August 8, 1964. Undoubtedly this was what you and your friends observed.
The observed light was identified as the ECHO I satellite, which was in the north at approximately 70 degrees above the horizon, moving northeast at the time of the sighting.
Witnesses
Key Persons
- Maston M. JacksMajor, USAF, Public Information Division