DOW-UAP-D178, Unresolved UAP Report, Catalina Island, 1953
WAR.gov / Department of War PURSUE Release 07
U.S. Air Force records from 1953 – a summary card and a three-page teletype report to recipients including ATIC at Wright-Patterson AFB, the Director of Intelligence at USAF headquarters and the Continental Air Command – on a round, purplish-white object seen over Catalina on November 16, 1953.
Document Highlights
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Short overview
U.S. Air Force records from 1953 – a summary card and a three-page teletype report to recipients including ATIC at Wright-Patterson AFB, the Director of Intelligence at USAF headquarters and the Continental Air Command – on a round, purplish-white object seen over Catalina on November 16, 1953.
Why this is interesting
The teletype describes a round, saucer-shaped object the size of a pea, purplish white at first and later fading to a whitish color, noticed by a casual glance at the sky on a clear night. It appeared stationary over Catalina, then moved north-west towards Los Angeles on a straight and level path until it disappeared, for about ten minutes in total. The observer was an Air Force technical sergeant whom the report considered fairly reliable because of his association with jet aircraft activity at Long Beach Air Force Base. The card notes that the object’s movement did not match the winds aloft and gives the conclusion “Astronomical (JUPITER)”, citing an astronomer at an observatory who evaluated the observation; the teletype adds the astronomers’ view that objects like this are possibly planets, which appear more clearly after rainfall.
Selected passages
- “COLOR OF OBJECT WAS PURPLISH WHITE ON FIRST SIGHTING AND FADED TO A WHITEST COLOR REMAINING SO UNTIL ITS DISAPPERANCE”
- “OVER CATALINA AND MOVED NORTH-WEST TOWARD LOS ANGELES WHERE IT DISAPPERED FROM VIEW”
- “WITNESS APPEARED FAIRLY RELIABLE DUE TO ASSOCIATION WITH JET AIRCRAFT ACTIVITY WHILE STATIONED AT LONG BEACH AIR FORCE BASE”
Background
The file contains a report of a round, purplish-white object above Catalina Island on November 16, 1953. The report describes the object as remaining stationary, then moving northwest toward Los Angeles over approximately 10 minutes on a level flight path. The report characterizes the observer as fairly reliable due to his association with military jet aircraft activities while stationed at Long Beach Air Force Base, Los Angeles, CA. The report refers to an assessment by local astronomers that Jupiter provided a possible explanation.