Declassified UFO / UAP Document
Project 10073 Record — Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) Sighting, Blacksburg, Virginia, 19 March 1966
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AI-Generated Summary
A 1966 report from an Air Force officer at Virginia Polytechnic Institute documenting a UFO sighting identified as the ECHO II satellite.
On 19 March 1966, at 2110 EST, Lt Col Theodore M. Fite of AFROTC Detachment 875 at Virginia Polytechnic Institute observed an unidentified object in the sky over Blacksburg, Virginia. The sighting, which lasted approximately 10 minutes, involved a single, steady white light comparable in brightness to a second-magnitude star. The object moved in a straight line from the southwest to the northeast, passing north of Polaris. Lt Col Fite, a rated Command Pilot, noted that the object exhibited no engine noise, no visible contrail, and no blinking or flickering. He observed the object through 7X glasses and confirmed the sighting with two other witnesses. The report was forwarded to the Foreign Technical Division at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The official conclusion reached by the project was that the object was the ECHO II satellite.
Object was steady white light like a second mag star. Moving from SW to NE in a straight line. No noise and no contrail was observed.
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Official Assessment
Satellite (ECHO II)
The object was identified as the ECHO II satellite based on its appearance, trajectory, and lack of anomalous behavior.
Witnesses
- Theodore M. FiteLt ColAFROTC Detachment 875, Virginia Polytechnic Institute