Military Air Magazine Cover, August 1960

This document is a U.S. Air Force Project Blue Book record from August 22, 1960, detailing a UFO sighting near Gabon, West Africa. Two military observers—Major Warren L. Carruthers and First Lieutenant James J. Wood—aboard an aircraft reported witnessing an orange, round object roughly volleyball-sized. The object exploded in a brilliant flash at approximately 20,000–30,000 feet altitude after four seconds of observation. A bluish-green trail followed, lasting two seconds, then transformed into a whitish-grey cloud lasting nine minutes. The aircraft commander, citing his 11,000 flying hours and previous meteor observations, suggested the object resembled the Soviet Sputnik rather than a typical meteor. Officials documented the sighting through radio communications with Congo Airways and Sidi Airways. The analysis section tentatively identifies the phenomenon as a bolide meteor, though notes the eyewitness expertise and the object's characteristics as noteworthy.