January 10, 1961 — Cape Canaveral, FL
A US Navy A-2 Polaris missile is launched from a ground pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida. A large disc appears somewhat close to the rocket and causes the tracking mechanism to lock on to the UFO. The diameter of the disc is approximately 20–25 feet and it is about 6–8 feet thick at its center. The tracking system returns to focus on the Polaris a bit downrange. The object is visually lost to ground observers and the primary witness (Clark C. McClelland, with 10x50 binoculars) as it continues to move away. The original investigation is conducted by McClelland and his Florida NICAP subcommittee. [Eberhart]
Sources:
Brad Sparks, Blue Books Unknowns Catalogue, Case 1461-1462, p. 286;
“UFO Blocks Tracking of U.S. Rocket,” UFO Investigator 2, No. 6 (October-November 1962): 1;
Loren E. Gross, The Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse: UFOs, a History: January–June 1961, The Author, 2003, pp. 6–7;
NICAP, “UFO ‘Alters’ Tracking of Navy Polaris Test”;
