---------------------------------------------------------------- ================================================================ PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD -- TRANSCRIPTION File: 1956-08-7070193-Juniata-Pennsylvania.pdf Transcribed by Claude Sonnet 4.6 for GlitchyMatrix.com/bluebook/ ================================================================ FIELD 1 -- DATE: 27 August 1956 FIELD 2 -- LOCATION: Juniata, Pennsylvania [Form includes an exclamation mark: "Juniata, Pennsylvania!" -- possibly transcribed from the observer's original report or an annotator's reaction.] FIELD 3 -- DATE-TIME GROUP: Local [blank on form] GMT 28/0255Z [Eastern Daylight Time (EDT = UTC-4) for late August 1956: 0255Z = approximately 10:55 PM EDT on August 27. Nighttime observation.] FIELD 4 -- TYPE OF OBSERVATION: Ground-Visual [X] Ground-Radar [ ] Air-Visual [ ] Air-Intercept Radar [ ] FIELD 5 -- PHOTOS: No FIELD 6 -- SOURCE: Civilian FIELD 7 -- LENGTH OF OBS: Three minutes FIELD 8 -- NUMBER OF OBJECTS: One FIELD 9 -- COURSE: North FIELD 10 -- BRIEF SUMMARY: One circular object with a plastic dome protruding from the top. About 2-3 feet in diameter & having a very bright light which lit up the observer's back yard. Object gained 20,000 feet of altitude by ascending vertically & then headed north at a high rate of speed. Object was viewed visually for three minutes and disappeared by fading out of sight. FIELD 11 -- COMMENTS: Unidentified FIELD 12 -- CONCLUSIONS: [ ] Was balloon [ ] Probably balloon [ ] Possibly balloon [ ] Was aircraft [ ] Probably aircraft [ ] Possibly aircraft [ ] Was astronomical [ ] Probably astronomical [ ] Possibly astronomical [X] Other: UNIDENTIFIED [written into Other field on form] [ ] Insufficient data for evaluation [X] Unknown Form: ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52) [File consists of the ATIC form and a single carbon copy only. No witness statement, AFR 200-2 data, or investigation notes are present.] ================================================================ SUPPLEMENTAL DOCUMENTS ================================================================ Doc 1: ATIC Form 329 -- carbon copy PDF page 2. Degraded duplicate of primary form. No additional readable data. ================================================================ SEARCH INDEX TERMS ================================================================ Juniata Pennsylvania Blair-County Altoona central-Pennsylvania 1956 August 1950s civilian single-witness nighttime backyard circular dome plastic-dome bright-light lit-up vertical-ascent north high-speed fading three-minutes one-object 2-3-feet small-diameter 20000-feet ball-lightning unidentified unknown ground-visual no-photos no-sound ================================================================ CASE ANALYSIS -- Claude Sonnet 4.6 ================================================================ THE OFFICIAL CONCLUSION ----------------------- UNIDENTIFIED, with the Unknown checkbox also marked. No investigative notes or follow-up documentation are present in this file. Whether any investigation was conducted beyond recording the report is not determinable from what is here. WHAT THE EVIDENCE SHOWS ----------------------- At approximately 10:55 PM on August 27, 1956, a civilian in Juniata, Pennsylvania -- a small borough adjacent to Altoona in Blair County -- reported a single circular object with a translucent or semi-transparent dome on top, estimated at 2 to 3 feet in diameter, near enough to the observer's location to illuminate their backyard with a very bright light. The object ascended vertically, was said to reach 20,000 feet of altitude, then headed north at high speed before fading from view. Total observation time: three minutes. POINTS OF INTEREST / WHAT GIVES ME PAUSE ----------------------------------------- The "plastic dome" description is specific vocabulary for 1956 and suggests a translucent, hard-looking dome rather than a glowing ball. The close proximity implied by "lit up the observer's back yard" places the object at what must have been very short range at the start of the sighting. The altitude claim of 20,000 feet is the most problematic detail in the report. An observer in a residential backyard at night estimating that a 2-to-3-foot object ascended to 20,000 feet is working without any reliable reference points. If the diameter estimate is correct at close range, the object would be undetectable to the naked eye at anything near that altitude. If it remained visible, it was either much larger than 2-3 feet, or the altitude estimate is far off. The two measurements are difficult to reconcile. The behavior -- vertical ascent followed by level northbound flight and gradual fading -- is consistent with several mundane candidates. Ball lightning can appear as a bright glowing sphere near ground level, light surrounding areas, and move before fading from view, though sustained three- minute ball lightning events are at the far edge of what is documented for that phenomenon. A radiosonde weather balloon with lighting equipment could explain a rising object that fades from sight, but not the initial ground-level proximity or the dome description. Conventional aircraft do not start in backyards. BOTTOM LINE ----------- A thin file makes for a limited assessment. The close-range proximity and specific shape description (circular with dome) are the elements that make this more than a generic light- in-the-sky report, but without a witness statement, weather data, or any follow-up investigation, the report cannot be evaluated beyond what the form contains. The altitude and diameter estimates are probably not both right. UNIDENTIFIED here reflects an absence of information rather than a genuinely anomalous residual. ================================================================ https://glitchymatrix.com/bluebook/ GlitchyMatrix Project Blue Book Archive All 10,808 declassified USAF UFO case files, 1945-1969 ================================================================ ----------------------------------------------------------------