Sighting Report and Correspondence — Seward, Pennsylvania, January 1965

This document contains a sighting report and subsequent correspondence regarding an unidentified aerial object observed in Seward, Pennsylvania, on January 30, 1965. A civilian witness reported observing an object at 9:23 P.M. that appeared as a large silver glow, moving west for approximately two seconds. The witness described the object as looking like a shooting star, but noted the absence of a tail and compared the visual effect to a carbon arc light. The official conclusion reached by the Aerial Phenomena Branch at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base was that the object was a meteor. The report explicitly states that the duration and direction of the object's entry were inconsistent with satellite decay. In a follow-up letter dated February 4, 1965, Major Hector Quintanilla, Jr., Chief of the Aerial Phenomena Branch, addressed the witness, explaining that satellite decays are distinguished from meteor sightings by their specific flight paths and longer durations. He noted that a satellite re-entry over Pennsylvania would typically hold an easterly component and last longer than the two-second observation reported by the witness.