UAP Sighting Report — Castalia, Ohio, 25 July 1965

This document contains the official Project Blue Book investigation file for a sighting reported in Castalia, Ohio, on July 25, 1965. The witness, an amateur astronomer with five years of experience, was conducting astronomical observations when they observed a bright, blue-white shining disc at approximately 2116 EST. The witness reported that the object was brighter than the star Vega but not as bright as Venus. The object moved in a south-southeast direction, passing near the star Deneb, between Lyra and Vulpecula, through Aquila, and finally to Sagittarius, where it stopped, dimmed, and suddenly disappeared. The total duration of the observation was approximately 10 to 15 seconds, and the object made no sound. The witness explicitly stated that the object was not an airplane, satellite, or meteor. Following the report, Dr. J. Allen Hynek of the Dearborn Observatory at Northwestern University contacted the witness by telephone on August 24, 1965, to request the completion of formal FTD Form 164 documentation. The official analysis noted that while a meteor was a logical candidate, the duration of the sighting exceeded the typical 5-8 second window for such events, and the lack of a reported trail or tail rendered the meteor hypothesis impossible. Consequently, the case was officially classified as unidentified.