Vandenberg Thor-Agena tracking film
- Date
- 5 Dec 1963
- Place
- Complex 75-1-1, Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, United States
- Record
- Curated case
- Assessment
- Explained
- Evidence strength
What was reported
During a daytime Thor-Agena launch, tracking cameras recorded a bright, star-like object that appeared to pass the rocket, and engineer Robert Baker brought the film to the Condon study as an example of an unidentified object with tracking data. Hartmann's analysis of the Air Force films (Condon Case 51) found that at the moment of the sighting the missile was less than two degrees from Venus, which was therefore in frame, and that the image had exactly the properties expected of the planet. Condon's staff used it as an example of how a 'tracked UFO' at a missile range can dissolve once the original films and ephemerides are checked.
What officials concluded
Resolved
Venus (Condon Case 51)
Strongest ordinary reading
Venus in the tracking-camera field of view
Evidence profile
- No: Visual
- No: Infrared
- No: Radar
- No: Video
- No: Photo
- Yes: Film
- No: Audio
- No: Night vision
- No: Other sensor
- No: Civilian
- No: Military aircrew
- No: Military ground
- No: Airline crew
- Yes: Sensor operator
- No: Law enforcement
- No: Scientist
- No: Astronaut
- No: Intelligence official
- No: Other
- Yes: Light only
- No: Orb or sphere
- No: Disc
- No: Triangle
- No: Cylinder
- No: Cube
- No: Other shape
- No: Physiological
- No: Physical trace
- No: Electromagnetic
- No: Sound
- No: Silent
Outside sources
- Condon Report, Case 51: Vandenberg AFBfiles.ncas.org
On the map
34.74° N, 120.57° W, plotted at the site
Show on the map