21 May 1964 at Altus Air Force Base, Altus, Oklahoma, witnesses described seeing a strange object. The conclusion was the witness had seen ECHO II flying overhead.
At 1030 zulu, a civilian guard at Missile Silo # 6 (papers said they were not military personnel) reported seeing a large, bright object (the size of an aircraft). It was described a white, round, and emitting no sounds.
When initially\seen the object was coming from the south (S) at a 45-degree elevation,
It lingered there, hovering for some 8 to 10 minutes.
The guard called to report this because the light was strong enough it illuminated the cap of the silo. A silo commander in silo # 7 sent a maintenance man up to visually verify any object. He did and returned to confirm the report. Two personnel are named in the report: Willie L. Davis and Paavo Samera.
By the time this maintenance man reached the upper levels and visually sighted the scene the presumed light had drifted upward where it then appeared to the intensity of the north star.
This object faded in 2-4 minutes.
Motion was against the slight prevailing winds on that clear night. No other observations emerged from other silos in the region.
As required by AF Regulations, a report was submitted and the file ended up with Project Blue Book as 640521altus. SAC had sent the report through because the area where one of the lights was seen was around a missile silo.
It does not show up in the current online collection of Project Blue Book, indicating it was removed, as many were, once an answer was attached.
Nearly hidden in the cover form document are several important facts:
The form says the witness was a military source.
The object was observed for 12 minutes.
The object moved to the NW
The form indicates the sighting is in two parts (1) is the sighting of ECHO II and the other (2) light is unexplained.
Closely reading the report it is clear that the object first seen coming in from the south and by the south gate, that hovered for close to 10 minutes, and glowed bright enough to illuminate the silo cap was that unexplained object (2). The small object, moving northward, high and star bright only, may have been the satellite ECHO II.
The witness who observed the round, white, silent object that hovered and remained in a specific area desbribed the size as "a basketball held at arm's length." That was the standard estimating size guide used by Project Blue Book. The consultant, who may have been Dr. Donald H. Menzel, added several declaration points to illustrate how unbelievable he found that estimate. Menzel's notes often seem to be abrupt, declarative, and short on the milk of human kindness. Menzel did not believe in the reality of UFO's - which he continued to call flying saucers to demonstrate his opinion of the topic -and so there for there could not be any such things. Numerous authors of the time and those who knew him, as well as how he reveals himself via newspaper quotes, prove this.
This 21 May 1964 sighting at the Missile Silo # 6 at Altus, Oklahoma was a two-part episode. One part was used to explain the other and put the case to bed.
ECHO II provided an excellent cover because it was in the news, was technical, and information was only made available sporadically to the public. Even today, images of the massive satellite moving across the sky are hard to locate. They would be invaluable for comparisons to what people reported and movement across the skies at specific windows of time. Finding the schedules or the newspapers that printed them can be challenging.
Explanation: Object seen and reported by military witness was ECHO II, a communication satellite sent up in January of 1964. ECHO 2 (or II) satellite mission ends during June 1969. What was ECHO 2: Echo 2 was a 135-foot satellite that was launched by NASA in January of 1964 and it orbited the Earth in a near polar orbit for the duration of its time in space. It was described as a communications satellite but it is probable it may have been involved in other activities as well.
Polar orbit was defined as “one in which a satellite passes above or nearly above both poles of the body being orbited (usually a planet such as the Earth, but possibly another body such as the Moon or Sun) on each revolution. It has an inclination of about 60 - 90 degrees to the body's equator. “For the Earth, that would be a mostly North and South direction, with a moderate angle to one direction or another.
It was easily visible to the naked eye across Earth’s surface due to its large size and type of orbit. It was used to perform some passive communications experiments and to measure the shape of the Earth. The satellite burned up upon re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere.
Note the size difference of the people in the above image and the one below....
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