NUFORC Sighting 27023

Occurred: 1963-05-15 14:00 Local - Approximate
Reported: 2003-01-10 21:15 Pacific
Duration: 20 seconds
No of observers: 5

Location: Towson, MD, USA

Shape: Oval

Bright, rapidly moving object moving from east to west that reflected the sun as it made a slight turn to the Southwest.

It was a beautiful sunny day in May of 1963. I was 10 years old and my family had moved two blocks away to a larger house. I was visiting my old neighborhood to play with friends when we noticed a bright object streaking through the sky. I remember that I was facing North and the object was moving very rapidly from East to West. It arched slightly to the Southwest and as it did so it glinted in the sun. To me this looked as if it were made of metal. I was standing with a group of other kids and we yelled to some adults across the street and the man said that it was a shooting star, but even at 10 years of age I didn't buy that. It was some kind of craft moving very fast and as best as I can remember it was silent. I have wondered all of these years if anyone else saw it and whether or not it was reported.

NUFORC Note:

Date may be approximate. We note that orbiting objects, and rockets launched to orbit payloads, do not have a westerly component to their groundtrack. Hence, the object almost certainly was not re-entering space debris. PD

Posted 2003-03-21