UFO seen in Parkersburg in 1961

Summary

In February 1961, a civilian in Parkersburg, West Virginia, reported a bright object with a red center moving across the sky. The witness described it as a light similar to an aircraft's rotating light, about 7 inches in diameter. Although the object was seen making a circle in the southern sky, no sound was heard. The sighting was unique, as only one person observed it, despite the city being relatively large.

The U.S. Air Force concluded there was insufficient data to determine the object's nature with certainty. Possibilities such as balloons, aircraft, or astronomical phenomena were considered but none were conclusive. The report, part of Project 10073, shows how witness accounts were collected during that era to investigate unidentified aerial phenomena. Although the case had no definitive resolution, it remains an interesting example of how UFO sightings were documented over half a century ago.