Project 10073 Record — UFO Observation, 23 Aug 69

This document contains a formal UFO sighting report and subsequent evaluation regarding an incident on August 23, 1969, in Marion, Ohio. The witness, an 18-year-old male, reported observing a light in the sky while studying the stars at approximately 0239 EDT. The witness described the object as a point of light, similar to a 2nd magnitude star, which traveled in a straight line from the northwest to the west-southwest over a duration of five minutes. The witness noted that the object did not exhibit any strange emanations or effects on humans or animals and left no physical trace. The Aerial Phenomena Office, under the signature of Lt. Colonel Hector Quintanilla, Jr., evaluated the report and concluded that the object was the Pageos A satellite. The evaluation provided specific orbital data, noting that at 0230 EDT, the satellite was at an altitude of 2409 miles, and by 0236 EDT, it had passed into the earth's shadow at an altitude of approximately 2100 miles, which accounted for the witness's observation of the light disappearing suddenly.