PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS Was Balloon 'i.'err e Ho.utez I:tdio.no. 0 Probably Balloon 3. DAT E TIME CROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION Po s si Ol y Balloon O :Ground Visual a Ground Radar 0 Was Aircraft Probably Aircraft a Ai~ Vi :sual -Interc e p t Radar P o ssi bl y Aircraft Was Astronomical CC< Probably Astronomical i~et~or 0 Possibly Astronomical 7. LENGTH Ofl OBSERVATION a. NUMBER OF OBJECTS 9. COURSE 0 Insufficient Data for Evaluation BRIEf' SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS ;j.c;hted a t z c n e t.h its angul:.u-!'lig . is very linited, a.pp.1r cnt pr-Jb:J.bl~r c..b l..!rvution GE- l;:J. r:o iffil);;...::t AT!C PORIIJf 329 (a&V 2 S&P 52) AERONAUTICS ADMINISTRATION IN REPLY REFER TO Theoretical Division 8719 Colesville Road Silver Sprin g, Maryland GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER GREENBELT. MARYLAND, ORAPUTI< 4 -8000 TWX: BYN MD DCI The object which you describe was apparently traveling at an angtllar velocity r;uch that its apparent velocity was about 1 mile per hour for eve~J foot of height. It would therefore reach an orulnar y meteoric velocity of perhaps 120,000 miles per hour at a height of 120,000 reet or 24 miles, which is a reasonable height for a meteor . satellite on the other hand at thls height would be moving only about 18 ,000 miles per hour; and the same would be true for objects of tbe type which I desc'ribed. If it were n mC'teor, then it is interesting that you should have heard a noi::>e. Ordinarily, noises could not be propagated o - ver distances such UG 24 miles in less than A.bout 120 seconds, or 2 minutes. By this time, the meteor should have been long gone . On the other hand, objects of the type whichJOu seem to be describ- ing, accompanied by a noise heard at the same time (which is some- times described as "like that of frying") have been reported before. See for example Niningers book, "Out of' the Sky", page 55. If you are sur e that the noise was heard at the moment the object passed overhead, it might be worthwhile recording--perhaps by a b rief let- ter to some journal. Sincerely yours, John A. O' Keefe A::>sisto.nt Chief Theoretical Division I have been aiviaei by an expert tba t an obaerva tion carrie& on in August 18,1959 of a meteor like obj eet may be worthwhile reeorting in some j ourna.l. At 19h 10m G.C.T. on the above &ate/an object was aightei at the zeneth of ita angu.lar flight. The calcu.latei apparent Teloci ty wa9 120,000 miles per hour ani a height of 120,000 feet. At the same time of t h w observation a noi3e was h eard which wouli resemble frying.The object was shell like in shape ani tra.velei iirec tly over LAT. 39 28' 00 LONG. 87 26 OO" South-lilaut to North -West. :tTo trail or impact nois e Flash was ietectei. The obaervat1on was witniaei AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR T HE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE 1515 MASSACHU5ETTS AVENUE, NW, WASHINGTON 5, D.C. DUPONT 7-7171 Th.mk you f o r your. l e ttcr of Harch 14 in Hhiti~ yJU describe seeing an object o f unkno~m.. o r l3in. As you knot-1, there arc n good !Tk'lny such sightillJS each year, and you should write not to us but to the United States .O.ir ,Eorcc, S.ac..t n ~P . Unidentified Fl;ina O~jc:ctG I am nccord:i.ugly rcturnl.ng your letter ~ ia in rep.l.J"" to JOUr recent 1etter concerning m1 obsenation you 4eaeribed which occurred August l.B, 1959 'H1e Aerospace Teclmical Intelligecea Center t'llrnisbea the ~olloving eJC,Planatioo following a study or the s1. tnatioo. reported by you .ATIC state. tbt the 1nf"onaat1on 1"urn.ished w.s very limited; ho11ever, the Center ag~ees vi th the conclusion o:f't'ered by NASA that tbe object observed vas probabl)r a bolide. Bolides are those verJ brl6ht mcteora which are seen or heard U, e.xplode. (Your Yrl ter has been fortunate enough to obaere two bolides.) It is AT.re'3 opinion that the meteor observed by t!le witness l1a$ overtaking the earth at. an angle of approxtmatel.y 75 degrees to the plmle or tbe eellpt1e. Th1 a angle "WWUld be necessary to give tbe meteor t."l.e SE to NW path as reported. AIJ a re8Ul t of the 75 angle, the true velocity oto the meteor 1.!1 the eellptie pJane "WaS appro:dmately 4o Km ( 2 5 miles) per second, acd tbe true velocity nonual to the ecliptic \laS 10.75 K'l:la {6.7 miles) per second. The earth's orbital. velocity ot 29.7 ma (18.5 miles) per second, subtracted t'rom the ae~rs V&l.ocity of 10.45 ma (6.5 lld.lee) :per secood, gives tlle overall reJ.ative vel.oeity or the meteor, vbieb wa 14.95 Ka {933 Ddleo) per eeeond. Unless the meteor. entered the abm:>sphe,ro };)tP"'IJJel to the tangent at the llitnesa' 1oca~OD, the apparent veloc1.ty wnld be :rurt.her reduced b;y the cosine o~ the aog)e betwce1 t.be tangent line and the meteor's real path. It is ec&l('luded that the meteor tlxus neved ws moving at a :rmch sl.over rel.ati:n ~t7 tbm tbat reported by the vitnesa .. Since there was no reyort o~ the duration a:r this sighting, it D:lZ"t. be pointed out tbat long duration "tl.!ghts' bave been recorded. '!'he n~cord u that or a meteor vhieh lasted :ror 90ll Alll ( 5, 650 m1l es) o.t an &"'ferage velocity of 8 :<m ( 5 "i 1es) ?er aecond. '!'hia ~teor .1ould bave ~ken 18.3 'ldnu~s to ccmrpJ.ete t..his !light (Jour:l&l :loyal. A3trmcnteal Soeiety, Canada, Volume Seven, ~ lQ.5, ~913). SlO"f neteon such as that nqx>rted by you ionize at awrox1matel.y 85 Bm ( 53 miles .. '279,84o :teet) and onl;y the la::-ges't, olO"~st-mo-ving i'irelll a bave not burned ava;y by 60 Km (37 .5 miles -198,000 teet). '.::'h~ meteor ~rted by you seems to fall into the bright t1reM1l cJ as a ana probably endured to a much lower a.lt1 tude. 'nla absence of' a. trail, which would have appeared u emolJ ill the daytime, is not '\.Ul\18"1 tor al..ov meteora. SiDce the aigb.ting reportecl b7 ;you probably J uted a relaU vely long tt_, it 1 :po.saibl.e the soun4 reache4 the witness shortly a:tt..r tbc JDeteor disappeared traa sight. Experiencing such a a:1ght is ratber atrtHng and 1-t ia ~seible that the vitness waa unabl.e to recall time laa between the si~ting and the occurren~ or eound. I YOUl4 lta to recomm4 that you oontaat nr .... "l"lo 1a oanducting extens1v. study on meteors of the !'1reraJl clasa. Iil. 3 e.ddre: Ptmnaylvnia I hope you will f'1nd the above belptul. WIJ.LIAM T. COLaWf !.Ja.jor, ~ Publlc Tntoz:nt1ca D:l:ri.aiOil ~ee ~ ,.,t-ormat1.cm. AEROSPACE TECHNICAL INTELLIGENCE CENTER , fils s~:-. UNITED ST ATES AI R FORCE WRIGHT-?.\TTERSON A IR FORC E BASE r o: Sr\..FOI -3d (L/Col Tacker) 1 . Her'erences : a . Lett e r to expl aining the prob:tb l e c ause of f lying object on 18 Augus t 1959. l e t t e r to Science, g~neral info~tion o b j ect oa 18 1\ul!>u s t AAAS f rom Mr concern in{) NASA, da t e d 9 tlarch 1961 ight i n g o f a n unidentif i e d dated ll~ L~rch 1961 out- tin6 of an u~identified c . Letter gt')stlng tha t from Sci ence t.J. .. f\.S . .,.... ..... :t his s i ghting t o the Uni t e cl St~tes .Air Force. 2 . The inforr.10.tio o conc erning Hr s i ghti n g , r e f e r e nce l b , i s v e r-J limited; h owever ,,'l'I;,; Uf;rees ,..,i t h e con':l u:;i o n of NASA that the object observe<l by H3 August 1CJ59 \1.:-!S probu b l y o bolide. Bolides are those v ery b r i n e t e o r s \vhi c h are s0en o r hc~rc1 t o e xplode . j . V'H:y littl e d'1t . ..-~:; provided concer n jn_; ilr sight i n g , t~nd tha t '~hich in p rovi del b v~ry rough. Ho\ll:~ver, it is I C op i nion that the m~tcor observ~d b;r t.h .. i t n ess wt::; ov~.rtoklng t.ht; '2:c r t h ~ t a n a n t;l e of c.pproxlma t ely 75 t o th~-:: pla n e o.f.' t h e er..:liyti c . T'n i s a n g l e woul d b e ncc~ssa.ry t o g ive t h-e m~teor the SE t o Jlf>,v p -1 th 11s r cpo.r:t e d by As n result of thr~ '(5 :1ngle the tJ."Ue v e l o city of tht::: met eor i n the ecl iptic p l a n e wo s appl'oxima.t e l y 40Kr.1 ( 25 wlles) p r.:r s e co n d , a ad the t r u e ve locit y norm:1l to the eclipt i c "\laG 1::>. 75 Kr:1 (6 . 7 n i les) p e::::-second . Th e ea.::::-th' s orbita l v,3l oci ty of 29. 7 Km ( 18 . 5 1:1lle s ) p e r ~econd ~ub t~c ted f rom the meteor ' s v e locity o f 10.1~5 Kn ( 6 . 5 t:tiles) p e r s~cond. The o veral l ::1tivc vel ocity of the r.1e t eo r '':~.s 14. 95 !\in ( 9 .33 rJil~s) per sec o n d . Unl e s s the me teor e~tered the ~trno::;pherc p~r~llcl to t h e t~gent a t the witn~sses location the apparent v e locit y ,:aul d b e iurther redu c e d by the co::;ine o f the nng l e be t ween the t~ngent lin e ~nd th~ me t-eor' s re~l p~th. Tt ~-; rnn c l.l:le'i that the ceteor -....-i ~-.... ~..~. ~Y ;r 's rno in~ ~t a r!l' tch 4 . d i tl n o t r e;.o::::-t the duration or his e> :~p.:.cienc~, but l o n g <..1.Ur:J.- tio n r l'light s h-r1e been r e c vr<le d . 'll1c lonb . ..!:->L r ecorclcC. f l ieht iz that o.r a m~teor ' :hich lost~d :fo::-9011 K!t (5G50 :.til~-3) ~ t a n a-.;ccagc Vl!locity o.l' 3i<i:n ( 5 miles) p e..: sccon l . 'l':tic .a<:te>Ol' " OLil r.i h 1ve t:.;:-~'~n 18 . 8 Ca n:l'h, Vol 7, poge 145 (1913) ),. Slo~r m~teorc ouch as th'Jt observed by i'lr ze a t appro.:<ir....:.tely 85 Kro ( 53 mile~, 279, 840 feet) and only t nt: t , slo . .,oest moving fircbslls l l'.l v e not burned mray by 60 Km ( 37. 5 miles, 198, 000 fe0t). The meteor observed by hr ems to fall into th0 b right fircb:lll cl:J.ss o.nd p.::obabl:y t.:ndured to u muc 10\o~er slti- tude. 'l'hc absence of a t rail , lThich "ouLl huvc appeared as sreokc in the dt1.y time , is n o t unusual for slovr me teors. 5. Since sighting probabl y lasted a relative l y long tlme, it i s pocsible sound reached him shortly after the oeteor disappeared from sight. Experiencing such a sight is :rathe r s tartling and it is posoible th\.Lt t h e witness was unable to recall n t ime l a g be tt-1een the si ghting a n d the occurrence of sound. is suggested tha t b e fo~.,oarded the address of Dr tho is conducting extensive stu:ly on me t eors of the fireball class. 7 . ':;.'he addresses of D1 nd as follo,r::;: FOH 'l'IlE CON.l'A..r\NDE~-.~- Jl{i CLIP G. EVANS Colone l , USAF Fax cy 1 t r ru~sA, Dep,._ty for Sc i ence :~nd Components .:>c~cnce, Fox cy 1tr Sci ence ,