NUFORC Sighting 08802

Occurred: 1977-09-01 00:00 Local
Reported: 1999-08-24 00:00 Pacific
Duration:


Location: Middletown, PA, USA

Shape:


This is a comment about this report.

1) Olmstead AFB was closed on June 30, 1968, when it became the Harrisburg International Airport. The Pa Air National Guard continued to operate a few planes but not fighters. 2) The airport was not "across the river", but small planes used the New Cumberland airport, on the York County side of the river. Some large-scale maps (Rand McNally Road Atlas of US, Canada, Mexico, 1979 Edition) show 1 airport symbol at New Cumberland, location of old airport. Maybe this report comes from someone not familiar with area, although the mention of Swatara Creek suggests this is not the case. 3) The object had red top and bluish bottom, suggest astronomical object near horizon in conditions of atmospheric refraction. Sun had set, but sky was overcast. 4) Details remembered, such as exact air temp "about 55", yet nine years off in the date, is a puzzle. Other details suggest fantasy. Jets seemed to take time to come from "across river", yet Olstead is at M'town, jets would be airborne and be there already! The Three Mile Island accident occurred in 1979, two years after 1977, not one year later. 5) Size of object "30 '" is simply an assumption, as is the distance. Jumping from 10 to 11 oclock could have been autokinetic motion of the eyes. Conclusion: the object may have been astronomical. The event either happened at least nine years earlier or details were imagined or fabricated. The report was made 20 or 30 years after the event. ((name and address deleted)).

Posted 1999-08-30

© 2023 National UFO Reporting Center. All rights reserved. Use or reproduction within any application without written consent is prohibited.