PROJECT BLUE BOOK

1. DATE

PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD

2. LOCATION

———

12. CONCLUSIONS

0 Was Balloon
25 March 1963 Chevy Chase, Maryland O Probably Balloon
O Possibly Bolloon
3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION
Locol_____ _1930 && Ground- Vi sual D Ground-Rodar a Probebly. a ca
GMT 26/00302 0 Air Vi sual 0 Air-Intercept Radar D Possibly Aircraft
O Yes O Probobly Astronomical
Blo Civilian O Possibly Astronomical
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE O Other
o regal Data for Evaluation
; 0 Unknown
2 seconds nine West/down
10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS

Outside observing ECHO. Shortly after
ECHO passed obj observed at
elevation in flight fm East to West.
Several obj trailed that were bright
red, Total duration reported now as
3 seconds, Detailed description fur-
nished DOD of the nine objects,

_

40-50 dgr

Witness oontacted by L/Col
Friend and discussion of event
indicates that object was a
bolide, which exploded into

Nine pieces,

ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)

mn | Pi | 7 ¢

632 Fan OF

CHARLES P. Onivier., Director. claterican Meteor Sacccts

‘ VERY BRIG freball
LX at TOr12 pou, Bastern standard time

Wiis sec ul

March 25. (405. over the Middle
Atiaasic states, lt was reported from

Mouravivania, Now Jorew Marvhand, Del-
District of Colunibia., Wese Vir-
sites Virginia. and North Carolina. Un-
foitunately, ne reports have come from
‘hips in Chesapeuke Bay and neighboring
Waters, Where the meteor must lave been
see,

\t the tiie. the writer was near Wash-
ington, D.C, and the Sfer carried his re-
quest for observations by the public. A
number of reports came directly to the
\incrican Meteor Society; many were
received at the Fragkiin Institute in
Philadelphia and at the Smithsonian In-
sitution in Washington, Finally, a few
readers Of SKY AND TeLyscore responded
te omy request in the June issue (page
%i5). though some of their reports were
received too late for inclusion here.

Dhe bolide was hirge. brilliant and
spectacular, arousitx the atrention of
many people who were indoors. some
even in bed. Tt undeubtediy showed an

estimates tTanging from
MW ininuates of arc (the moon's size) down-
ward. One uained observer at a consid-
erable alistunce from the nictear gave tts
anmnitude as —4, but persons nearer the
math miude it —S8 or —10, The colors re-
yanttod dittered prepouder-
me being green, blue. aud white. Some
olecrvers called che main beds orange or
ved, dat they probably saw i: low in the
sas, hence through greater amounts of
ihe atmosphere.

chind the head of the fireball there
lollowed ao short appendage or tail A
touenduring Wail was rooorted by only
one observer, who was in West Virginia
wear the higher part of ihe path where
wich a wai might develop. He said the
“smoke” Tasted 10 to 15 seconds.

Vhis study of AMS fireball No. 2376 is
nocd upon about 66 reports, of which
at least 25 contained data permitting me
i” caleulate the meteor’s path through
fhe atmosphere. and its orbit in space

OW tte,

ee
o}p>ppabenit (,ISA,

BRrCUY, tiie

tne March

- ° @ i
=~ WT an
owe Ye et

the waele geenestpeliie el lisseabeatinns cel aby
servers and the beet tliat seem Were Vie
Metoon
wach observations. b ledteve the cicularesd

tellin!

touts Seoters mecwuibers tratneel in

VOSUIUS itz prttteda titeene he tite tancead.

bewttining aol

Note. however, that che
ending Of at bright meteor are seldora obs
served. Tisteimd. we
the puth that sae short of each oxi nity,
Portuniately, this aitkes dite dithererese
in the path’s downwiare Slope or in the
arbit. which we jssume to be a parubola
around the sun, Vo compute an ellipti-
Giloor hyperbolic orbit scenp a waste of
time in this Goce. even though we have
some estimates of the meteors duration
of flight.

When the orbit was caloulated. the first
sighting of the March 25th fireball seemed
to be over central Pennevivania, ata
height of 53 miles above point B. on the
map. Since then | have received an ex-
cellent report that extends the path 33
northwestward. where the height
wis 357 miles. Vhe caleulited orbit is not
dtected, however.

The end point Was 25 miles over E. in
the Nehari
the auinospheric track from 2B ti E ex.
Hew bear Ine
Projected on

derive perbiits thon

miles

Oceah. Ns the tulle shows,

temlecd 25) amiles cbe

creases: this to 287 nriles).

the srounmk the path fram Bote EL is
2a2 miles (total Jenurh 284).

Most observers did not estimate how
long the meteor was: visible, and mans

who did saw but part of the path, Sev:
eral used the word “slow" in describing
the motion. Viree of the best. who scem
to have witnessed the whole path. gave
7S, 8-10. and 10 seconds. Perhaps nine
svconds is about correct. indicating very
uncertunly an atmospheric velociw of
ZS niles pei scoond

\ striking explosion of the fireball oc-
curred above point No. as the main bods
partially disintegrated. Apparently there
were at deast two more thaes farther
along, but not so sreat or brilliant. he
“sparks” from the explosion were orange
or red. An observer at Newport News.
Virginia. said that a dozen or more frag:

belare encountering the earth. Due to ments followed the meteor. There is good
fT T T ' ' i

“n

i eee

- : ~ ~~

= | ~— an

~ | = ~ E -

S

~ | 7

* 9 zl ey _t ‘Peas Es a ie

° $0 100 150 200 250

DISTANCE ALONG GROUND PATH IN

fn Dr. Olivier’s preliminary chart of the gradual deycent of the fireball. dots
indicate groups of height determinations, and the letiers along the ground path
correspond to those in the map above.

‘.
\
vA

ty:
-
a

3
>
%¢
¢

ca.%

| DELAWARE

ni,
oy

. \
Ss
fa
aati:
Wes
x
x

t

VIRGINIA ATLANTIC

a

hs \ OCEAN
|
Ne

News| Aa

~<—we its:

Ji
sca, HF at” =
reser AKl
Y w@
ip, .

Richmond

fork a
cue ae ;
ike se

SAI Nee bort
os

The fireball of March 25, 196%, passed
southeastward from Pennsyivania across
Maryland to end over E,. alter explod-
ing above No. Diagram by the author.
beliese that sate

rewson le byvegrecsts

went bevond the meteors hot observed
if thes wtge enough
they may have fallen tite: thie

To was able to determine
rately the main explosions subpoint, XN.
at longitude 75° SS’ west. Litituade JS8* 21°
north, near Elio. Marsiaed

prleosionn heieht of :

position, atid were
each,

(quite ack

“The ex-

Wiles scons tows sreuit

ri
for ameteorites to ce sconad trop, Truclaisys

by previous cases. Nevertheless, thre
stali menibers of the Siaithsormiaa Dnsti

tution mide an immediate search alome
the assumed path, bur could Gia ne
authentic reports of debris having tillen

. ’ *>
Pecieesh cite

Whenever a well-observed
pears. our procedure iy te prepare a mtop
on which cach sightity stuiton fs plork al.
The latitude-lomgitude cridk in this case
hal a scale of one millimeter to one min-
ure of latitude. with properly converging

longitude circles. From each station the

Observed azinitath Lines are drawn,
then

points oi the metear’s projected pouty

ai thas
COrvereenecs define apPrONtAte
In addition to angular estimates, we Tuav
reports from observers who saw the fire.
hall cross the zenith or pins cast or west
ot them. Gombining all these dats er
mits drawing the ground trace chreaiels
bE...

We then draw a graph rehatites distance
tlong the projected path and the suteor's
height. which is oltuined trom 5
nomenh formula Al = D tan fh.
case 2) is the distance from the oleerver’s
Mution to the respective point on BLE
for which an alcitude Gi) of the meteos
wos reported fan carrected for curva
ture), Phe adopted path in space is the
line that best represents the average «

the betel.

tries

Lit cach:

~ ,
Isr thin case. Ht cate out well Ata

pling certain corrections. the altitad

Gaontnned on ase 370

.-*

tus “Vere esate ares n

be en oh

sil A

ar}

—_—- —- —_ -_— —_

THE PATH OF THE MARCH BOLIDE
(Continued from page 263)

und azimuth of the meteor’s radiant in
the sky are obtained, Knowing the sidereal
time of the event, we then compute the
coordinates of the radiant, in this case
near Upsilon Andromedae. The table
wives the orbital clements of the meteor
member of the solar svstem before
it struck the carth,

Phe elements that the fireball
evertook the curth and moved in a plane
inclined only 13°.5 to the ecliptic. This
is low chough to indicate that the meteor
belonged to the group that is believed
to come from the asteroid zone. [ts peri-
heliow point. as iy almost always the case,

iy oat

ts
Santa

lies inside our orbit. The velocitw given
; ! vlio-

J

metcor’s
centric Velocity amd Uiat ot the eardh —
in ather words. iis speed relative to our
aunosphere.

is the vector sam of the

-

Ik ts probabie thar another bright me-
tcor apocured at nearly the same time as
this fireball. Its motion was toward the
rerthoust. lut the tew reports received

here do not permit un analysis of its path
to be miade.

I am indebted to the scores of observers
who supplied the detailed observations

—-

necded tor this study. The

Institution played essential re'es i

wathering of reports.

Wasini}
Star, Franklin Institute, ard Smithy

'

! AMERICAN METEOR SOCIETY FIREBALI NO.
1963 March 26.15
135°.8 (10* 23")
Long.

Date

j Sidereal thine at end point E

Virst derermined point, B
| Point of main explosion, X
| . .

Last deicrimined point, E

Projected lensth of path, BE;
|) Leng.h of actual path, BE
Duration of visible meteor
Observed \ Clachty
Radiant uncorrected
Curvature correction
correction, parabolic

ie]

re vre errs)

ms 6 COFLe! ted
Equarorvial
Eotiyce!

twat UP Se TPs |
‘

Oxhital

‘4
Wrainates
WHainaies

UC TOTS f

inclination to the celipiic 13

Losgitude of ascending node t*.3
Lomweltude of periielion lad
Perihelion distance ie

Lone.
Long.
405 km.
408 kin.
9 seconds
15 kilometers per second
Altinude (h) 6

NMiitude
R.A:

Lute.

23576

~77° 39°, lat. = 40° 23°, height
+~75° 58’, lat. —58° 24’, height
+73° 02°, lat. -37° 21’, heisht

very incertiia

44°. avimuth 147°

= t= 30°
B= 32"
. Lee errs =9
hy) O° O02, aziniath 147
22°.&; dee, —41°.8
7 ov. dat. — 29°.8

85
55
37

very uncertain

No Case (Information Only) 26 March 1963 | |
Norfolk, Virginia to
Long Island Sound, New York

Shy and Telescope June 1963 Issue page 343 has request from Dr Olivier for data |
on this meteor, Reported time was 1012 PM,

PITTSBURG POST-GAZETTE-3/27/63
Mar 26,1963-A meteor which gave a slowing
sky show was seen by hundreds of persons

from Norfolk, Va to Long Island Sound in

N.Y. It was seen shortly after 10 Pl. "At |
first I thought it was a plane in trouble}

related one Washington-area woman, "Then |
it looked like a flere, or a sky-rocket, |
It had a reddish glow to it! Gea‘retoun U |
astronomers said the cbhject was Qa "Fuse— |
ball meteor."

eoeA strange glowing object, which may
have been a meteor, was seen in many parts of Long Island on the night of

March 25th. One witness described it as "a circular object that appeared like
a flourescent greenish light." It seemed to throw off white fire streaks fron
a tail as it disappeared behind a cloud and then reappeared. The object was
also seen as far away as Norfolk, Virginia..

SIGHTSEEING SAUCER YISITS STATUS OF LIBERTY: Many of the East Coast
papers carried stories of a "meteor" which was seen ‘traveling south on the
night of March 25th. It seems strange that no seismograchic resorts of shock
waves or any other reports of the meteor's impact were aver made. Even though
the meteor traveled froa the coast of Maine to Norfolk, Va. a* extremely low
pltitudes, it evidently did not strike the earth. or those readers who find
the antics of such an unusual aeteor strange or hard to belisvs, we give the
stery of one of the witnesses, who was cersonally interviewed by SAUCER NEWS
Assistant Editor John J. Robinson.

Om Mareh 25th Dedley ©. Troy, who lives in Staten Island, ¥.¥. and
works in Jersey City, N.J., was driving ssuth on Hslliday 5t. in dayonne, N.J.
at 10:10 p.m., when he suddenly saw 4 large object vome sisning dow out of
the sky. The object was above Caren aich is con the Jersay shore of New
York Day, dirsctiy opposite the State berty. [hs desceniins TFS leveled
sf amc oreceeied southwarc at an m Troy estimated to he about 205
Yeot, at a distance of neariy 8 f mile away. it Seensc to De traveling

‘mont 4O niles »-4r hour. Troy stated that the obiect was so Low that houses

sometimee obscured tt from view as i* razed behind chon.
se :ree:y adnitted that the UID frigsntensa bia, sven tnouzh he had
served i: the rcabees in Africa ge weil as ¢nm subasrine patroi in Pert Seoe
“cae Me. Troy said that {2 wag as big as a touse ani ssssqdled a giant pin.
Meck, which pulcsated with a yallowishered giow, Somsnow the coject also ree
fed ham of a Staten island fermy boat, for it seemed to have soms scert of
; teri windows. The disc-like U?0 scen turned its edge oon him and receded
sro View, presenting only 3a thin cigareshaped shadow in the slightly overcast
siarlit sk7, %or the night was a moonless sone n

- 4 -

‘ e = Wrinzg his chservaticn, Mr.

. ’ . exis “t @ x os ; - eam = si <s oy |

Lrey was also aware cf 2a ~eculiar swishing sound as the obisct slavly revoived
- So 4 J

Fireball Over Eastern
- Seaboard

The night of March 25, 1963 produced
a brilliant fireball at about 10:00 p.m.,
which was seen by thousands of observ-
ers as it passed over important cities
along the Eastern seaboard of the US.

Coming from the north, the object
passed -over Allentown, Pottstown and
Philadelphia, Pa., Washington, D. C., and
Richmond, Va. It was also seen as far
off this path as Harrisburg, Pa., Long
Island, N. Y., and Newark, N. J.

The fireball was flying low when it
passed over Pottstown, Pa., and along
Maryland's eastern shore. Most experts
felt that the object was a meteor. How-
ever, Mr. Christie Urvack, an electronics
engineer for the Air Force at the Cam-
den-Moorestown RCA plant, felt that the
object’s trajectory was not correct for a
meteor.

The object appeared white with a long
orange tail and turned a luminous blue
green toward the latter part of its flight.

Pieces appeared to break off from the

tail and appeared as reddish-orange
sparks. The main object also emitted
flashes of light which were very bril-
liant. Hunting parties were organized to
search for the object as some witnesses
felt it had fallen to earth. However, no
trace of the object was found.