Project Blue Book Sighting Report — Southampton, New York, 9 November 1966

On 9 November 1966, at approximately 2330Z, a group of students at Southampton College in Southampton, New York, reported observing an unidentified aerial phenomenon. The witnesses, identified as college freshmen, described a single, round, nickel-colored object that was stationary and blinking in white, red, green, and blue. One observer noted that the object emitted a square-shaped red discharge that appeared to shoot toward the west. Another observer in the same group reported that the object appeared to spin in a circle before disappearing suddenly to the north. The Air Force, through Project Blue Book, initially classified the report as having insufficient data for evaluation. In a letter dated 13 December 1966, Major Hector Quintanilla, Jr., Chief of Project Blue Book, requested that the witnesses complete formal FTD forms to provide more detailed information. Internal military communications regarding the incident, filed under AF IN 61192, expressed skepticism regarding the report. The military assessment concluded that the sighting was likely a star, and that the reports were stimulated by recent UFO publicity in the local area and influenced by group hysteria among the students.